PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY

NAME – SRIMUGAN.R

ROLL NO. – 20191BAL0080

SUBMITTED TO – PROF. AMLANIKA BORA

DATE – 30/03/2020
 CASE ANALYSIS

1. Case analysis of UCC V Union of India (1989)3 SCC in the ligh of liability of
foreign company in tort.

Petitioner
Union Carbide Corporation
Respondent
Union of India
Date of Judgement
04/05/1989
Bench
Pathak, r.s.(cji), venkataramaiah,E.S.Rengnath,
Venkatachallah MN.,Ojha N.d.

FACTS
American giant union carbide with the union of India incorporated union
Carbide India Limited collaborated in India for the manufacture of batteries,chemicals,pesticides
and other industrial products in the year of 1934.The union carbide was the majority
stakeholder (51%) in the company new pesticide plant by the agronomic engineer of the
plant,UCIL ignoring all these complaint kept on producing dangerous and hazardous chemicals in
the plant Unfortunately on the intervening night of 02-03 December 1984 , the methyl Iso
cyanate (MIC) gas weighting 40 tons used as a raw materials in the production upon mixing with
water and on the residents of entire Bhopal Gas tragedy and adjoining areas. The MIC gas
travelled as far as the peripheries of Bhopal. Due to the outbreak of this ghost of 1984 in Bhopal
as many as 2600 people immediately died and the death toll rose to a huge 8000 within for
night , while tens of thousand were displaced ,injured and affected . The later estimates indicate
that the death toll rose to an enemas 2000 while more than 6000 were left injured . This
catastrophe not only left the live human beings , animals were victimized it also injured the
babies in the womb. The residents of Bhopal are suffering even today due to this ghastly
catastrophe that happened due to the negligence of a multinational company.

ISSUES RAISED :
Is the company responsible or not?
If it is responsible then under which tort is the company responsible?
Is the carbide America and Union carbide of India both are equally responsible?
JUDGEMENT RAISED
The Judgement was giving as it was tort committed under absolute liability
court has taken this into consideration all of the contentions laid by UCC were rejected and all
accused were found guilty and were subjected to imprisonment and were also liable to fine. But
these orders subjected to imprisonment and were also liable to fine . But these orders could be
enforced as some of the accused did not appear in the court Mr. Warren Anderson, who was the
chairman of the UCC at the time the disaster took place ,is still abandoning and all requests for
his extraditions still remain unsuccessful as the US Government rejected it.The summary of the
Judgment was the supreme court ordered union carbide to pay US 470 dollars against all; the
destruction that t5he leak of MIC gas from the industrial premise. In the reasoned order Justice
Pathak said that it was duty of the court to secure immediate relief to the victims of the MC
leaks and while doing that the court did not entered into virgin territory. Pathak j. applying the
polluters pay principle decided the quantum of compensation to be US 470 Million. The court
considered that the counter offers ranged between us 426 Million and us 500 million . Therefore
us 470 millions was calculated as the mean of the counterrangers.However , this sentiment of us
470 million was way less to the promised amount by the government land also various jurists
considered it to be an inappropriate compensation . After analyzing the ratio , it seems that an
amount less than INR 50,000 was delivered to each victim.