Union Carbide Corp. told India’s highest appeal...

Union Carbide Corp. told India’s highest appeal court that it should not be forced to pay interim compensation to the Indian government in the legal battle over the 1984 Bhopal poison gas disaster. Carbide has said that a ruling ordering interim compensation amounts to awarding damages without a trial. Its appeal has reached the Indian Supreme Court, which is expected to hear arguments in the case for about three weeks. The Indian government sued the Danbury, Conn.-based chemical company for $3.3 billion after the disaster, in which more than 3,000 people were killed and 200,000 injured. Carbide maintains that the leak was caused by a disgruntled employee who sabotaged the Bhopal plant.