Keshub Mahindra, others convicted in Bhopal gas tragedy case

BHOPAL: Almost 26 years after the world's worst industrial disaster that killed thousands of people, a Bhopal court on June 07, 2010 convicted eight former top managers of Union Carbide India (UCIL). It was from the factory of UCL that the poisonous gas had leaked when the city was fast asleep. Those convicted include Keshub Mahindra the current chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra. The 85 year old Mahindra was then UCIL's non-executive chairman. Chief judicial magistrate Mohan Tiwari awarded a maximum prison term of two years to each of the accused but no sooner was the verdict announced, the accused got bail for their offence. The guilty including the managing director, the production manager and the plant supervisor were ordered to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh each. Of the eight convicted, one R B Roychoudhury is not alive any more. Leakage of the deadly methylisocyanate gas from the UCIL factory on the night of December 2-3, 1984 not only killed around 25,000 people in the city but left thousands other injured and maimed for life. The after effects of the gas affected even the lives of those born years after the tragic incident in Bhopal. It is to be seen now whether Mr Mahindra quits his post as chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra, on moral grounds following his conviction in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. He is also on the board of HDFC, Bombay Dyeing and several Mahindra group companies.