Minutes of Bhopal EGoM or how to divert focus from Rajiv Gandhi

Read the official minutes of the meetings of the group of ministers on Bhopal headed by P Chidambaram

GN Bureau | June 28, 2010




The nation was shocked after a Bhopal court's verdict on the 1984 gas tragedy. There was no justice for the victims, people said, hoping the government would still do something. And the government did: it revived a Group of Ministers on this issue and the prime minister gave it precisely 10 days to prepare a report.

While the GoM has made the predictable moves (deciding to file a curative petition, pursue Warren Anderson's extradition, for example), it has skirted a key issue that was hotly discussed in the aftermath of Bhopal Tragedy II: Who let then Union Carbide Corp chief Warren Anderson go home? What did Rajiv Gandhi do (or didn't do) in l'affaire Anderson? Why did the government, which took upon itself the right to represent the victims of Bhopal, settle for such paltry compensation ($470 million), etc. While opening the purse-strings for the victims liberally 25 years too late, the EGoM, cleverly achieved the basic purpose of diverting the attention from the callous political, judicial and bureaucratic leadership that let down Bhopal.

Attached below are the official minutes of what the GoM discussed (and what it didn't) during its three meetings this month. Also find the Supreme Court judgment on a petition from Vineet Narain and others on the disaster.

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