Voice of Bhopal: Different Dimensions of the Barriers to Justice in Bhopal Gas Tragedy Case

Abstract

The human rights impact of transnational organizations on local population in developing or under developed countries are not concealed. Egregious violations in recent times include the following, to cite but a few: ITT’s involvement in subverting Allende’s democratic government in Chile in 1973; the complicity of mining MNCs in plundering resources, prolonging the war and condoning human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and the role of Western companies in human rights abuses associated with the Yadana pipeline project in Burma. Civil Society Organizations such as Amnesty International have also stated that some corporations exploit weak and poorly enforced domestic regulation with devastating effect on people and communities. Even after the implementation of United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights , several barriers to provide access to effective remedy for adverse corporate impacts have been recognized by experts such as Jennifer Zerk. One of such cases is that of Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Surya Deva in his book correctly states that Bhopal has been treated as a mass tort or an environmental tragedy and not as a human rights issue. Justice remains elusive for thousands of victims of the disaster, delayed litigation aggravates the sorrows of the victims and lack of political will to prosecute the perpetrating company makes Bhopal an ideal case to understand the various barriers to effective remedy. The aim of this essay would be to understand the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Case as a focal point and realize the barriers to accessing remedy faced by the victims of the poisonous gas leak. The essay is divided into three parts. The first part of the essay is to understand the factual matrix surrounding the leakage and also to have an overview of the litigation which ensued in the courts of law, both in United States and India. The second part of the essay would discuss how the various legal/ procedural, financial/structural and conceptual barriers restrict access to effective remedy for the victims of the gas leak. The last part of the essay would provide some key recommendations for reducing the barriers to access to effective remedy in Bhopal case.