Ramanathan, Usha --- "The Bhopal case: retrospect and prospect" [2019] ELECD 2650; in Cullet, Philippe; Koonan, Sujith (eds), "Research Handbook on Law, Environment and the Global South" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 138

Book Title: Research Handbook on Law, Environment and the Global South

Editor(s): Cullet, Philippe; Koonan, Sujith

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: The Bhopal case: retrospect and prospect

Author(s): Ramanathan, Usha

Number of pages: 8

Abstract/Description:

This chapter provides an analytical narrative of how the Indian State, law and the judiciary responded to one of the world’s worst industrial disasters that happened in India in December 1984 – the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster. It highlights various key stages of the still continuing long legal journey for justice for the victims – people and the environment. This chapter further touches upon key legal changes prompted by the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster, particularly developments in environmental law in India. It also highlights that legal developments in this regard have by and large diluted the possibility of strong legal actions against companies and people responsible for their management in the context of industrial disasters, even in cases such as the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster where derelictions of duty can be unearthed.