Union Carbide Corporation vs Union of India

Abstract

The Union Carbide Corporation applied to the Supreme Court concerning S. 155 of the CPC, in a claim for damages made by the Union of India against the order of the Bhopal District Court, on behalf of all the claimants under the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act, 1985. The Union Carbide Corporation, and the Union of India, both filed discrete appeals in the Supreme Court against the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, both of which were heard simultaneously. Damages were sought on behalf of sufferers of the Bhopal gas leak disaster. The Court examined the prima facie material to quantify the damages, and also the question of domestication of the decree in the United States for execution. It scrutinized the question regarding the number of damages that would be “just, equitable and reasonable” for an over-all settlement. The Court referred to the M.C. Mehta v Union of India[1] case, in which it was held that the measure of damages payable had to be correlated to the magnitude and the capacity of the enterprises because such reimbursement had to have a damper effect.