Bhopal Case May Be Reopened: The new...

Bhopal Case May Be Reopened: The new government of Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh said it will support petitioners challenging the previous leadership’s $470-million settlement with Union Carbide for the 1984 Bhopal, India, gas disaster. Law and Justice Minister Dinesh Goswami said the former government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had “no authority or right to arrive at a settlement which extinguishes all rights of the affected victims in respect of criminal liability. The Feb. 15, 1989, settlement before India’s Supreme Court was accepted as “full and final” from the U.S. multinational for the gas leak that killed at least 3,598 people and injured 20,000 others in the central city of Bhopal. The settlement absolved the Danbury, Conn.-based company of further civil or criminal liability. Under Indian law, however, it is subject to review by the court if challenged.