M A I N   N E W S

Pranab admits Anderson let off to maintain law
Subhrangshu Gupta/TNS

Kolkata, June 13
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today defended former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh in sending back Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson to the USA after the Bhopal gas leakage incident.

Sending Anderson to USA then was necessary for maintaining law and order in the state, Mukherjee, who was the Finance Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government when the Bhopal tragedy occurred, said.

Talking to mediapersons in the city, Mukherjee said: “At that time the people’s anger was running high and there was a threat of some serious law and order problems, which compelled the Chief Minister to send Anderson to USA.”

And negotiations for his (Anderson’s) extradition for facilitating investigation into the gas tragedy, the Finance Minister pointed out, were already on with the US.

Apart from that, the judgment of the lower court would be challenged in the high court, he said. "Though we cannot comment on the court judgment, we have to go to a higher judiciary where there is an appellate provision. We will appeal there," he said.

Meanwhile, CPM Politburo member Biman Bose, who is also the Left Front chairman, called upon all political parties, irrespective of their ideological differences, to launch a campaign against the UPA for having allowed an easy escape for Anderson.

And the CBI probe into the disaster, too, had was a farce as the agency’s entire focus was on serving the interests of the US rather that ensuring justice to thousands of innocent gas tragedy victims, Bose alleged.

Bose demanded that the Manmohan Singh government should explain how and at whose intervention was Anderson allowed to escape and if necessary, an independent inquiry be instituted.

The Politburo member, it is learnt, has already started sending request letters to all MPs from West Bengal and other states, seeking their support for an independent probe into the Anderson’s escape.

Notably, the Congress has been facing uncomfortable questions on who had ordered Anderson's extradition hours after his arrest in the aftermath of the tragedy, with some suggesting that he was allowed to go out of the country following a directive from the then Union government, which was led by Rajiv Gandhi.

On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, poisonous methyl-iso-cyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, killing thousands immediately and many more over the years and maiming numerous others.

Left to launch protests from today

Bhopal, June 13
The Left parties today announced to launch a fortnight of protests across the state from tomorrow demanding justice for the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy.

“We are going to organise rallies, hold protests across Madhya Pradesh from tomorrow for a fortnight to demand justice for the Bhopal tragedy victims,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Badal Saroj, along with CPI leaders, told reporters here.

According to Badal Saroj, Left parties’ demands include re-trial of the accused in the case under various tough sections of the IPC, within six months from now.

For this, he said the Supreme Court, which had diluted the charges against the accused (now convicts) to Section 304 (a) (causing death due to negligence) from 304 II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), should evolve a judicial mechanism.

“We want the apex court should scrap the June 7 verdict of the trial court sentencing the seven accused to two-year punishment and re-try them under Section 304 II of the IPC,” Saroj said.

The Left parties want that people who helped Warren Anderson, the then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation (US), to escape trial, should be prosecuted, the CPI (M) state secretary said. — PTI