Court Upholds India as Sole Claimant for Bhopal Victims

The Supreme Court today upheld a law that made the government the sole claimant for victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak, a ruling that confirms a $470-million out-of-court settlement between India and Union Carbide Corp.

Lawyers representing gas victims had challenged the validity of the out-of-court settlement, saying it denied claimants their constitutional right of suing the U.S.-based multinational firm for history’s worst industrial disaster.

Several suits were filed after the government and Union Carbide reached the settlement on Feb. 14. The corporation paid $470 million in exchange for an end to all civil and criminal proceedings.

Numerous groups supporting victims claimed the sum was inadequate and the result of a back room deal with the former government of Rajiv Gandhi. The law was originally passed to streamline the myriad of claims rising from the disaster, which left about 3,600 people dead and another 200,000 injured.

The decision effectively ends litigation linked to the petitions pending before the court, and the focus will now be on how to distribute the settlement money to about 500,000 people who have filed claims, many of which are believed to be false.