Dow must clean Bhopal site: Law min
The law ministry has told the prime minister’s office and the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers that multinational petrochemical major Dow Chemicals will normally have a legal liability to clean up the Bhopal gas tragedy site on account of its...
By Gireesh Chandra Prasad, |
NEW DELHI: The law ministry has told the prime minister���s office and the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers that multinational petrochemical major Dow Chemicals will normally have a legal liability to clean up the Bhopal gas tragedy site on account of its acquisition of Union Carbide Corporation. This liability, however, can be fixed only after examining the Dow-UCC deal to see if the transaction had specifically excluded liabilities arising out of the 1984 disaster, government sources told ET.
The union cabinet will shortly meet to look into whether Dow has a legal liability on account of the acquisition and whether it should pay for remediation. A decision on this could impact Dow���s proposed $1 billion investments in India as visiting company executives may face legal wrangles that can hinder their business operations.
The chemicals and fertilizers ministry has moved a cabinet note along with the law ministry���s broad view. The chemicals ministry has been of the view that the ���polluter��� should pay, without naming Dow as the polluter.
���If the deal had specified Dow owning all liabilities except those on account of Bhopal disaster, then UCC has the liability for cleaning and developing the site. The Jabalpur High Court, would certainly go into the transaction details of the two companies,��� said a chemicals ministry official.
UCC has sold its 51% stake in Union Carbide India to McLeod Russel (I) belonging to the Williamson Magor Group and the company has been renamed to Eveready Industries India. Dow has been saying that it has not inherited any liability on account of Bhopal disaster. It remains to be seen whether the government would take a political decision or would wait for the court to give its view.
In the meanwhile, three NGOs campaigning for the welfare of disaster survivors released some parts of the law ministry���s comments they claimed to have acquired from the prime minister���s office through a right to information application. It said that irrespective of the manner in which, UCC has merged or has been acquired by Dow Chemicals, if there is any legal liability, it would have to be borne by Dow. It does not however, say whether there is a liability.
The union cabinet will shortly meet to look into whether Dow has a legal liability on account of the acquisition and whether it should pay for remediation. A decision on this could impact Dow���s proposed $1 billion investments in India as visiting company executives may face legal wrangles that can hinder their business operations.
The chemicals and fertilizers ministry has moved a cabinet note along with the law ministry���s broad view. The chemicals ministry has been of the view that the ���polluter��� should pay, without naming Dow as the polluter.
���If the deal had specified Dow owning all liabilities except those on account of Bhopal disaster, then UCC has the liability for cleaning and developing the site. The Jabalpur High Court, would certainly go into the transaction details of the two companies,��� said a chemicals ministry official.
UCC has sold its 51% stake in Union Carbide India to McLeod Russel (I) belonging to the Williamson Magor Group and the company has been renamed to Eveready Industries India. Dow has been saying that it has not inherited any liability on account of Bhopal disaster. It remains to be seen whether the government would take a political decision or would wait for the court to give its view.
In the meanwhile, three NGOs campaigning for the welfare of disaster survivors released some parts of the law ministry���s comments they claimed to have acquired from the prime minister���s office through a right to information application. It said that irrespective of the manner in which, UCC has merged or has been acquired by Dow Chemicals, if there is any legal liability, it would have to be borne by Dow. It does not however, say whether there is a liability.
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���There is always the threat that legal and moral issues will be set aside for financial considerations such as investments���, Sainath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information and Action said here in a statement. The chemicals ministry is of the view that while investments are needed, the sentiments of the affected families should be kept in mind while taking a decision, said a source.Download
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