Delhi court allows CBI to extradite Anderson in the Bhopal gas tragedy case

New Delhi, Mar.23 (ANI): A Delhi court has allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to seek the extradition of former Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) Chairman Warren Anderson (90), an accused in the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, from the United States.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav said: " Considering the entire facts in its holistic perspective and sentiments of the disaster-hit people, I deem it appropriate and in the interest of justice that he be extradited."

" There is no bar in law in seeking the extradition of Warren Anderson from the US authorities. Request of the CBI is allowed," he added.

Anderson has not faced trial in connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy, even though he was declared a proclaimed offender by the court of Bhopal chief judicial magistrate in 1992 after he jumped bail, which he had secured on December 7 1984 following his arrest.

Yadav states: " The chronology of steps taken by the CBI from 1992 till July 2010 in the case reveals that the CBI was not sleeping over the matter and was conscious about its duties to bring Warren Anderson to book."

Though, the court allowed the plea of the CBI, it wanted to know why the agency had not taken recourse under the Extradition Act after an extradition treaty between the United States and India had come about in 1999.

During the course of the proceedings, the CMM said that the case could not be opened as per the whim of the CBI

While pressing for the extradition of Anderson, the CBI said there was no delay from its side in approaching the US authorities for Anderson's extradition.

The CBI also said that the Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate had passed a detailed order in June 2010, which has conclusive material implicating Anderson in the matter, emphasizing that the UCC management had been aware of the defects in the plant at Bhopal but did not take any remedial action.

"As the management was well aware of the defects in the plant, the culpability of Anderson, being its chairman, cannot be denied," the CBI prosecutor said.

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by the wind to the surrounding slums.

The government says around 3,500 died because of the disaster. Activists however calculate that 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed. (ANI)