Bhopal: A Bhopal court will continue to listen to the criminal case related to the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, which will dismiss the petition of Dow Chemical to transfer the proceedings in the CBI court in Indore. Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Hemalata Aharwar ruled on Wednesday that his court has kept the jurisdiction for the next hearing for August 23.The Dow Chemical, which handled the Union Carbide Corporation in 2000, was declared a declared criminal after failing to respond to the first six court summons. Its US headquarters was replied only after the seventh notice. Dow’s lawyers – senior advocates Siddharth Luthra and Ravindra Srivastava – said that Indian courts including JMFC Bhopal, US -based company are capable of listening to the case of jurisdiction and only CBI court case in Indore. This argument marked a change in the first stand of Dow that no Indian court could take action against it.CBI counsel Manfool Vishnoi and NGO Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGAGA) – AV Singh and Prasanna B’s lawyers opposed the judicial challenge. He said that the disaster took place in Bhopal and the matter takes place within the right of its courts, regardless of the role of the CBI as the prosecution agency.The court will now investigate three major issues: Dow Chemical claims that no legal action can be initiated against it in India; The company’s accountability for the Bhopal disaster after the UCC acquisition; And 2024 applications of Biagia seeking Dow’s business integration plan during UCC acquisition. BGIA had earlier formally urged the CJM court to form a party in the case.
