Right to Compensation and Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Abstract

Right to compensation is a form of restorative arising in the case of abridgment of legal for basic fundamental rights of any person or object having a distinct legal entity and their by placing the aggrieved in its earlier state as if no injury had occurred. The MNC’s along with the subsidiary companies in the developing countries experiment with carrying out more hazard and dangerous technology and engaging in rampant violation of environmental and human rights jurisprudence under the artificial veil of globalization. The International community lacks a central law making authority thereby making the term 'soft law' a subject of debate among International jurists. 'Soft law' can be referred to a variety of instrument, declaration of principal, codes of practice, recommendation, guidelines, standards, charters, resolutions etc. There is no legal imposition upon any company to pay compensation neither there is any stringent regulation upon them to control and supervise the acts of the company at times in the earlier period which create detrimental effects to the habitants and the surroundings of the host states except some regulatory frame work by way of 'soft law' and not any hard law i.e., which can be enforceable by any Court of law. The reluctance and weaker legal regime in the host countries acted as a barrier in vindicating the due enforcement machineries and thereby immuning the MNC’s or TNC’s from their legal liabilities overlooking grave violation of human justice. The story of Bhopal is an unending plight of untold miseries and suffering of innocent poor people in need for justice and their subsequent tragedy by gating their hopes and promises crushing under the wheels of corporate politics. Two broad legal issues arising: The need of the hour is MNC’s accountability to pay compensation under the light of corporate social responsibility. Their constant thriving for profit and gain is to be sacrificed for greater social welfare. In this context, two main issues arise – Whether MNC’s will be liable to pay compensation to victims in Third World Countries or how else can they be placed under a binding legal obligation to compensate rather depending on OECD principles earlier laid down in the form off soft law? Whether the parent company will be liable for hazardous act of subsidiary company in host states? In this connection, the present paper attempts to analyze these issues with special reference to Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Justice Krishna Iyer preferred to call the Bhopal Gas Tragedy as 'Hiroshima of world greatest industrial disaster' till date. Infact Jamie Cassels in his article 'Multinational Corporation and Catastrophic law' stated that the Bhopal story is about the 20th century legal system running up against the 21st century reality of globalization.