The Madhya Pradesh High Court has charged former state chief secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, two Union government secretaries, and three other senior officials with contempt for failing to comply with court orders for medical care for victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The chargesheet accuses them of showing “insensitivity towards gas victims”.
Aside from Mr. Bains, those charged include Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Union Chemical and Fertilisers Secretary Arti Ahuja, Senior Deputy Director R Rama Krishnan of the Indian Council for Medical Research, Prabha Desikan, former director of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC), and Dr Rajnarayan Tiwari, Director of the National Institute for Research on Environmental Health (NIREH).
In a contempt petition brought by NGOs dealing with gas victims, the court had previously convicted MP Mohd Suleman, additional chief secretary for health and gas relief, and two officers from the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
A division bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice D N Mishra said, “It is obvious that despite the lapse of more than 10 years, you respondents have demonstrated no urgency or sincerity in complying with directions of Supreme Court as well as of this court, thereby leaving gas victims in the lurch. You have tried your best to render the concept of PIL nugatory by dragging your feet on compliance. This court does not see any good reason behind this laxity by you, except for insensitivity towards gas victims.”
The court found that the respondents “willfully disobeyed” SC and HC instructions. In 2012, in response to a PIL filed by the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan and other NGOs, the Supreme Court established a monitoring committee to oversee the medical care provided to gas victims at designated hospitals.
Later, the BMHRC was placed under its supervision. The Supreme Court issued 20 directions to address the shortage of doctors in gas relief hospitals and the BMHRC, as well as the digitization of gas victims’ medical records and the shortage of drugs and equipment in these facilities. The case was later transferred to MP High Court by the Supreme Court.
