Anderson can still be brought to India and tried : Moily

New Delhi, Jun 8 (PTI) Indian government Tuesday battled
allegations that the Narasimha Rao regime had not pursued the
extradition of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson
and asserted that the Bhopal gas tragedy case was still open
and he can be brought here for trial.
In the context of outrage over the "light" punishment
handed out by the Bhopal court verdict Monday, former
Supreme Court Chief Justice A H Ahmadi, who was heading the
Bench that turned down CBI's case for the accused to be tried
under stringent provisions, justified his 1996 judgement
saying in criminal law there was no vicarious responsibility.
Putting up a brave front, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily
said the case against Anderson was not over and he can be
brought here and tried.
The Minister was responding to questions from reporters
on the contention made by a former Central Bureau of
Investigation joint director, who was handling the probe in
1994-95, that the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) had written
to the investigating agency asking it not to pursue Anderson's
extradition.
Moily dismissed the claim of B R Lall as an
irresponsible statement. "After retirement, people try to
become martyrs by making such statements", he retorted.
Union Minister Salman Khurshid, who was a junior
minister during that period, also rejected Lall's claim,
saying the CBI was not under the MEA.
MEA sources said there have been repeated requests for
Anderson's extradition but these were not accepted by the US
on the ground that he is not personally culpable.
"In 2003, a request for extradition of Anderson was made
to the American side under the India-US bilateral extradition
treaty. This request has already been reiterated on more than
one occasion", the sources said.
Nearly 26 years after world's worst industrial
disaster left over 15,000 dead, former Union Carbide India
Chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others were Monday
sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Bhopal court
following which they secured bail.
The outcome of the case came under attack from civil
rights activists and political parties who felt the quantum of
punishment was too light when compared to the magnitude of the
trgedy.
89-year-old Anderson, the then Chairman of Union
Carbide Corporation of USA, who lives in the United States,
left the country soon after the tragedy and was declared an
absconder. There was no word about him in the judgement of the
Bhopal court.
BJP slammed the then Congress government for attempting
to "pressurise" the CBI not to press for Anderson's
extradition. (MORE) PTI TEAM
MYR


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