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Can’t say who gave safe passage to Anderson: Chidambaram
Tribune News Service & PTI

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Arjun ‘ordered’ plane for Carbide ex-chief Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said there was no truth in senior Congress leader Arjun Singh’s claim that he was not aware of how the state plane was used for taking the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to New Delhi after the Bhopal Gas tragedy. “I have seen the records of the state government flight that day and as per them, it was ordered by the then Chief Minister Arjun Singh,” Chouhan told reporters at his residence. He said everyone knows that no state government plane can undertake a flight without the permission and knowledge of the Chief Minister. “Since Singh was not only Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister but also a senior Congress leader at that time, I am sure that he knows this rule,” Chouhan said. — PTI

New Delhi, August 12
The government today said there were no records of calls made by Home Ministry officials before the exit of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson’s from India in December 1984 and on the “safe passage” assurance reportedly given to him.

A day after Arjun Singh sought to point fingers at PV Narasimha for the exit of Anderson from India, Home Minister P Chidambaram also gave a clean chit to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to a debate on the world's worst disaster that had claimed over 15,000 lives, he utilised the occasion to say that the “elected class”, Parliament and Executive failed victims of Bhopal and they deferred to the judiciary which took over a number of things which were not in its domain.

“Safe passage (to Anderson) was indeed given, according to (MK) Rasgotra (then Foreign Secretary) and he was allowed to leave the country, according to Arjun Singhji. I am in no position to confirm or deny it,” Chidambaram said. He was responding to questions by Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley and members of the Left parties as to who was responsible for allowing Anderson to leave the country.

Chidambaram was repeatedly asked by Arun Jaitley about Arjun Singh’s statement in the House yesterday that his chief secretary had told him that there were calls from the Home Ministry to ensure Anderson’s exit when he visited Bhopal the day after the tragedy. “There are no records with the External Affairs Ministry or the Home Ministry to substantiate who made calls from the Home Ministry to the chief secretary,” Chidambaram said.

He counter-attacked Jaitley saying that the BJP leader should have made queries about this in 2001 when he was the Law Minister in the NDA Government dealing with the Anderson’s extradition.

Meanwhile, the Congress seems to have no problem with senior leader Arjun Singh holding the then Home Minister PV Narasimha Rao responsible for allowing safe passage to Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson after the Bhopal tragedy. The party is also in agreement with the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister’s suggestion that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take up the issue of Anderson’s extradition with United States President Barack Obama during his November visit.

“We certainly feel the issue of extradition must be followed... We believe the issue should be taken up,” Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said, when asked whether the party agreed that the issue should be raised during Obama’s forthcoming visit.