The days leading up to Republic Day in 1985 were tense in the Lok Sabha. The events in Bhopal a few weeks ago had sent shockwaves throughout the world. When the 8th Lok Sabha convened on January 21, 1985, Janata Dal Member of Parliament (‘MP’) Madhu Dandavate compared the Bhopal Gas Tragedy with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Even back in 1985, our representatives noted the obvious: the lack of provisions for punishments in Indian environmental law (see, for instance, Indian National Congress MP Arvind Netam’s statement in the Lok Sabha on January 21, 1985).
When the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Bill, 1985 came to be discussed in the Lower House, it was the Bharatiya Janta Party (‘BJP’) that vehemently opposed it, through its MP C. Janga Reddy. Reddy had then raised the question of why provisions in the nature of criminal prosecution had not been included in the Bill. It was during those times that we also heard calls for a permanent legislation to deal with future such occurrences which posed a threat to life and property (see, for instance, Telugu Desam Party MP S.M. Bhattam’s statement in the Lok Sabha on March 27th, 1985).
— source theleaflet.in |
Utkarsh Jain | 16 Jul 2022