India not to pursue Bhopal tragedy case in US courts

India has said since pursuing the case related to compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster was not in the best interests of the victims, it has decided not to pursue the case further.

Law minister M Veerappa Moily was today quoted in the local media as saying that the government had taken a decision not to pursue the case as it was not in the interest of victims and not in the interest of India. He added that the government had taken a considered decision and Indian courts were competent and capable of resolving the matter.

Moily's remarks came after the country's attorney general advised against pursuing the compensation case in US courts against Union Carbide company to enhance the $470 million compensation paid by the US-based company in 1989.

The union government had considered moving the case to US courts following an Indian court verdict in May this year. The government had referred the matter to the attorney general for his advise.

According to unofficial estimates 20,000 persons perished in the disaster caused by a gas leak, considered the worst industrial disaster in history. The government maintains the toll was 3,500.

India's highest judiciary had issued notices to the respondents on a petition filed by the premier probe agency in the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation regarding the restoration of the stringent charge of culpable homicide, which attracts a maximum punishment of 10 years' jail term in the matter.