Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Convicted Union Carbide Men’s Retrial Plea Not Maintainable, Says CBI To Court

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): At a hearing in Bhopal’s district and sessions court on Monday, the CBI presented its written and oral arguments, stating that the petition filed by the three convicts (Union Carbide Corporation officials) under Section 464, CrPC, for ‘re-trial’ is not maintainable. 

In this case pending since 2011, the three convicts, J. Mukund, S.P. Chaudhary, and Kishore Kamdar, filed an appeal that the Bhopal trial court's decision of June 7, 2010, was wrong and the entire case should be reheard or retried, and new charges imposed.

In its written submission, the CBI said that the charges and sections which the convicts are calling wrong were mentioned in the Supreme Court order of September 13, 1996, basis which, the trial court started hearing the case on August 29, 1997.

On June 7, 2010, all the Indian accused were found guilty under 304A of the then IPC. During this trial, none of the accused ever said that the charges against them were wrong or that some other charge should be applied.

Rachna Dhingra, convenor, Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), which works for raising awareness and seeking justice for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims, said, “The CBI submitted its written submission arguing that the petition of three convicts is not maintainable.

Since 2011, the petition is pending demanding retrial. The BGIA also gave written arguments regarding the dismissal of the petition of the convicts.”