No mistake in my order on Anderson: ex-CJI
New Delhi: Former chief justice of India Justice AM Ahmadi, who delivered the judgement on September 13, 1996 diluting charges in the Bhopal gas leak tragedy, has defended his verdict saying that he did not commit any mistake.
"I don't think I made any mistake. If I had made a mistake with the judgement there was ample time to get it reviewed, 1996 till now is a lot of time. CBI could have got it reviewed. Why didn't they? The judgementwas correct. This was a mass disaster but the law does not provide for such a disaster. There is no scope for vicarious liability in criminal law," Ahmadi told CNN-IBN on Tuesday. He justified his decision saying that "we all own cars. If my driver is involved in a fatal accident I don't become liable under Section 304 (Part II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)". He also said that it was "unfortunate that Anderson (former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson) was allowed to go as he was the principal offender".
Ahmadi pointed out that Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari had given those found guilty in the Bhopal gas leak case the maximum punishment possible under the charged levelled against them.
"If there was no charge under 304 A but under 304 (Part II) and a charge could not be made against the accused under that section, they could have gotten away scot-free. We may be unhappy with the quantum of punishment but that's what happened in the Ruchika (Ruchika Girhotra molestation case) case. Here the magistrate has given maximum punishment," he said.
"Compensation could have been granted. I haven't seen the judgement. I don't think that the view that I took was wrong," he added.
Ahmadi also claimed that the money received from selling Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) shares was used to build a hospital for the gas leak victims in Bhopal.
"One has to take a dispassionate view. It's easy for people to get carried away on TV. I heard Mr Sarangi (Bhopal gas activist Satinath Sarangi) saying I allowed UCIL to sell the shares. The shares were already sold. It was the money that was lying there. I diverted the money for the construction of the hospital," he claimed.
Eight former UCIL officials were found guilty and given a jail sentence of two years each. All of them were held guilty under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. They were also fined Rs 1 lakh each.
Those convicted include former UCIL chairman Keshub Mahindra, Vijay Gokhle, the then Managing Director of UCIL, Kishore Kamdar, the then Vice President, JN Mukund, the then Works Manager, SP Choudhary, the then Production Manager, KV Shetty, the then Plant Superintendent and SI Qureshi, the then Production Assistant.
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