Is justice blind?

Over 25 years after the deadly gas leak at Union Carbide plant here in December 1984, which killed over 20,000 people and critically wounded hundreds of thousands others, Bhopal’s chief judicial magistrate, Mr Mohan P. Tiwari, on Monday delivered judgment in the criminal case that followed, sentencing all seven accused, including the then Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) chief Keshub Mahindra to two years in jail under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code and a fine of Rs 1 lakh each.

While convicting the accused, the CJM’s court also granted bail to all those convicted on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and a security of like amount.

Besides 85-year-old Mahindra, now chairman of automotive firm Mahindra and Mahindra, the six others from UCIL (now defunct) sentenced on Monday include its then managing director V.P. Gokhale, then vice-president Kishore Kamdar, then Bhopal plant works manager J. Mukund, plant production manager S.P. Choudhary, plant superintendent K.V. Shetty and plant production assistant Shakeel Qureshi. Another accused, the then assistant works manager R.B. Roy Chaudhary, died in the course of the trial.

But 89-year-old Warren Anderson, chairman of Union Carbide Corporation (UCIL’s parent company) at the time of the disaster, who was named the main accused days after the gas leak, appears to have gone scot-free for now. He did not subject himself to trial and is still an absconder. There was no word about him in Monday’s order.

The CJM’s court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakhs against UCIL under Section 304-A IPC. All the accused were also sentenced to three months’ jail and fined Rs 250 each under Section 336 IPC; to six months’ jail and a fine of Rs 500 each under Section 337 IPC; and one-year jail and a fine of Rs 1,000 each under Section 338 IPC. The company has been sentenced to pay the same fine under Sections 336, 337 and 338 IPC.

The CJM has given all those convicted a month’s time to file appeals, if any.