Jeremy Page Delhi
An Indian court found seven people guilty of negligence today for failing to prevent a gas leak in the city of Bhopal that killed thousands of people in 1984 in one of the world’s worst industrial accidents.
But the seven former employees of Union Carbide’s Indian subsidiary face a maximum sentence of just two years in prison, outraging activists who said the penalty was the same as that for causing a traffic accident.
Those convicted included Keshub Mahindra, the 86-year-old multi-millionaire chairman of tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra who was chairman of Union Carbide India Ltd at the time of the accident.
The seven men — all Indian — could be the first people to face jail in a 26-year legal battle that has highlighted the inefficiency of India’s judicial system, and stirred a global debate about corporate liability for industrial accidents.
