US backtracks; says ‘may consider’ Anderson extradition

Days after ruling out re-opening the Union Carbide case in any manner in the US in the wake of the Bhopal court verdict, the US on Friday said it is prepared to give ''fair consideration'' to any fresh request from India for the extradition of the company's former chief Warren Anderson over the 1984 gas disaster.

''We have an extradition treaty with India. And if India makes an extradition request to us, we will give it fair consideration,'' state department spokesman P J Crowley said. If the government of India makes such a request, the U.S. will ''carefully evaluate'' it, he told reporters at a news conference in Washington.

Crowley, however, said he was not in a position to verify whether the US had already received such requests or whether it had responded to them, arguing that all such issues were confidential.

A day after the Bhopal court convicted and sentenced to two years former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others on Monday, the US had ruled out any 'new inquiries' against the company and also hoped that the verdict would bring ''closure'' to the families of the gas leak victims.

At that time, responding to a specific question on whether there was a request by India for Anderson's extradition, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Robert Blake had said, ''As a matter of policy, we never discuss extradition, so I cannot comment on that.''

Asked if the US will help India to track Anderson, who was released on a bond of Rs25,000 in 1984, and to bring him to justice, Crowley said, " I have no way of validating whatever document he signed in 1984."