Anderson exodus controversy

Pranab Mukherjee has said former Chief Minister Arjun Singh took the decision on then Union Carbide CEO’s exit keeping in view the law and order situation.“The statement made by Mr.Arjun Singh as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on December 8, 1984 that law and order situation was deteriorating. There was mass frenzy and therefore it was thought necessary to move out Warren Anderson, a news five days after the Bhopal disaster had been published in a newspaper,” he told reporters in Kolkata on Sunday. “It is very clear from the statement of Arjun Singh, which was published in The Times of India on December 8, 1984, that the law and order situation in Bhopal would have deteriorated and people’s frenzy and temper were running high. Therefore, it was thought necessary to send him (Anderson) out of Bhopal,” he said. Mukherjee said, “It was necessary to take him out of Bhopal” to save him from public wrath.“The focus of the state administration at the time was immediate rehabilitation of gas victims. The victims and the affected families had to be the priority then,’’ Mukherjee partly defended the decision. Arjun Singh himself has not come out with any statement to either deny or confirm the allegations but a close political aide of his had said “his hands were tied”. Alexander had hinted that Rajiv Gandhi may have had a role in the release of Anderson as the then prime minister could have agreed with the decision on letting him off.Mr Mukherjee had on Saturday said that the government will still try to seek the extradition of Anderson.“We are trying to extradite Anderson,” he had said. But legal experts are of the view that it will not be easy to extradite Anderson because of “lapse of time”. Soli Sorabjee, it is futile to make a request. “I had asked the ministry to obtain opinion of a reputable US legal firm that dealt with the matter.US attorney gave some reasons, one of them being lapse of time. They sought evidence complying the US extradition law. They didn’t think the requisite evidence was available for extraditing Anderson. It would be futile to make a request now,” Mr Sorabjee had said. Moily said there was need for a law to fix responsibility on persons responsible for disasters such as the Bhopal gas tragedy.He said the CBI which investigated the worst ever industrial tragedy that claimed thousands of lives booked cases under IPC section 302, but the supreme court converted it into 304 A (culpable homicide which provides for lesser punishment). "Unfortunately the judiciary did it," he said.Moily said the Government was working on codifying laws to ensure that disasters were treated as disasters only.He also said the Government was working on a set of guidelines that would facilitate fast tracking of cases related to major disasters in the light of the Bhopal case."Our courts are very conservative. Hence we are working on new set of laws to deal with such disasters", Moily said. Referring to the case against former chief of Union Carbide Warren Anderson, he said it had not been closed. "We are pursuing it." Reacting to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement, CPI(M) leader Mrs. Brinda Karat has said that Anderson should have been jailed instead. She termed newly formed GoM is totally meaningless and urged the government to come clean on the issue. Our correspondent reports that the opposition has been pressing the government to reveal with who had allowed Anderson's exit, ruling congress leaders had been urging Arjun Singh to speak out on the controversy. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was joined by the CPI M leader Brinda Karat urging the government to come clean on the controversy. They also called upon the congress chief to break her silence on the issue. US on Saturday said it is prepared to give "fair consideration" to any fresh request from India for 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 US will "carefully evaluate" it, he told reporters in response to a question. BJP president Nitin Gadkari had asked the Congress to come clear on its role in allegedly providing safe passage to Anderson.“Why is the Congress silent on the issue? Why is Arjun Singh silent? Why has the country not been informed about what happened?The silence is eloquent,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, quoting Gadkari.“Anderson was booked under Section 304 IPC which is a non-bailable offense. The government helped the main culprit in the accident in which 20,000 people died. Congress must apologise to the nation,” Prasad said. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s “For us, all options are open including re-investigation of the gas leakage case. We are discussing it with legal experts.” The MP state government has constituted a five-member committee under the chairmanship of additional solicitor general Vivek Tankha to look into the trial court judgement and examine all legal aspects including any fresh evidence. Media agencies.