New Delhi:
Amid anger and criticism over the verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy, Law Minister Veerappa Moily has said that the case against Warren Anderson is not closed. (Read & Watch: Anderson can still be tried: Moily)
Anderson was the top executive of US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in 1984, when the world's worst industrial disaster swept out over Bhopal in a gas leak from a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide. Government reports say 15,000 people were killed. Independent studies say the death toll was closer to 20,000. (In Pics: Bhopal Gas Tragedy)
Anderson was arrested after the gas leak, but was then inexplicably allowed to leave India five days later on December 7, 1984. Since then, he has ignored repeated court summons. Despite an arrest warrant issued against him last year, he lives in suburban New York. (Read: Who is Warren Anderson)
Moily told NDTV on Tuesday, "The CBI has filed a chargesheet against him...but there is a process involved...before the court frames a charge. The accused should make his presence felt. Here is a person who has absconded...on the evidence available, the court will declare any accused who could not appear before it a proclaimed offender. That does not mean the case has been closed."
Activists and surviving victims, however, are unlikely to be pacified by any explanations that suggest the law will take its own course. They say that India has shown a complete lack of political will in bringing one of the main men responsible for the disaster to justice. Anderson along with his top management, they say, knew that storing the lethal methyl isocynate within city limits was potentially very dangerous. Anderson is also accused of having introduced cost-cutting measures that compromised security. (Read: Union Carbide reacts)
The CBI formally charged Anderson with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in 1987. Five years later, after repeatedly ignoring court summons, Warren was declared a fugitive. After that, India's attempts to bring Anderson back to stand trial have been ineffective. The US rejected a formal extradition request in 2003. The arrest warrant against him stands unexecuted. (Read: Greenpeace says it informed CBI about Anderson)
Government sources say that America has turned down multiple extradition requests for Anderson because under US law, a person can only be extradited if he is personally culpable for a crime committed, and not if he holds office in a company that's been found liable for a crime.
The Law Minister had no comment to offer on Anderson being given safe passage by the then Congress government in December 1984, days after the tragedy, but criticised former CBI officer BR Lall who told NDTV earlier that the investigating agency was asked by the central government to go soft on Warren Anderson. (Read: Was told to go soft on Anderson, says ex-CBI official)
"The Investigating officer had power, he should have used it," the minister said, adding, "I hold CBI investigating officers responsible. They can't become martyrs or saints after retirement. Today blaming others won't take you anywhere."
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs say the government is investigating this claim.
A court on Monday sentenced eight people to two years in prison - all of them were executives of Union Carbide India. One of them died during the course of the trial. The other seven, including Keshub Mahindra, who was then the chief of Union Carbide India, have all been granted bail. (Read: Bhopal gas tragedy: Bail granted to accused)
Anderson was excluded from this trial and verdict last year, because he is absconding. When and if he is arrested, he will face a separate trial.
In a statement that has led many to believe that America does not plan to initiate action against Anderson, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said, hours after Monday's verdict, "I don't expect this verdict to reopen any new inquiries or anything like that. On the contrary, we hope that this is going to help to bring closure, to the victims and their families."
Anderson was the top executive of US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in 1984, when the world's worst industrial disaster swept out over Bhopal in a gas leak from a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide. Government reports say 15,000 people were killed. Independent studies say the death toll was closer to 20,000. (In Pics: Bhopal Gas Tragedy)
Anderson was arrested after the gas leak, but was then inexplicably allowed to leave India five days later on December 7, 1984. Since then, he has ignored repeated court summons. Despite an arrest warrant issued against him last year, he lives in suburban New York. (Read: Who is Warren Anderson)
Moily told NDTV on Tuesday, "The CBI has filed a chargesheet against him...but there is a process involved...before the court frames a charge. The accused should make his presence felt. Here is a person who has absconded...on the evidence available, the court will declare any accused who could not appear before it a proclaimed offender. That does not mean the case has been closed."
Activists and surviving victims, however, are unlikely to be pacified by any explanations that suggest the law will take its own course. They say that India has shown a complete lack of political will in bringing one of the main men responsible for the disaster to justice. Anderson along with his top management, they say, knew that storing the lethal methyl isocynate within city limits was potentially very dangerous. Anderson is also accused of having introduced cost-cutting measures that compromised security. (Read: Union Carbide reacts)
The CBI formally charged Anderson with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in 1987. Five years later, after repeatedly ignoring court summons, Warren was declared a fugitive. After that, India's attempts to bring Anderson back to stand trial have been ineffective. The US rejected a formal extradition request in 2003. The arrest warrant against him stands unexecuted. (Read: Greenpeace says it informed CBI about Anderson)
Government sources say that America has turned down multiple extradition requests for Anderson because under US law, a person can only be extradited if he is personally culpable for a crime committed, and not if he holds office in a company that's been found liable for a crime.
The Law Minister had no comment to offer on Anderson being given safe passage by the then Congress government in December 1984, days after the tragedy, but criticised former CBI officer BR Lall who told NDTV earlier that the investigating agency was asked by the central government to go soft on Warren Anderson. (Read: Was told to go soft on Anderson, says ex-CBI official)
"The Investigating officer had power, he should have used it," the minister said, adding, "I hold CBI investigating officers responsible. They can't become martyrs or saints after retirement. Today blaming others won't take you anywhere."
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs say the government is investigating this claim.
A court on Monday sentenced eight people to two years in prison - all of them were executives of Union Carbide India. One of them died during the course of the trial. The other seven, including Keshub Mahindra, who was then the chief of Union Carbide India, have all been granted bail. (Read: Bhopal gas tragedy: Bail granted to accused)
Anderson was excluded from this trial and verdict last year, because he is absconding. When and if he is arrested, he will face a separate trial.
In a statement that has led many to believe that America does not plan to initiate action against Anderson, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said, hours after Monday's verdict, "I don't expect this verdict to reopen any new inquiries or anything like that. On the contrary, we hope that this is going to help to bring closure, to the victims and their families."
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