NEW DELHI, India, July 7, Reuter: An Indian court on Thursday agreed to hear contempt charges against the chairman of the U.S. Union Carbide Corporation and two lawyers for accusing a judge in the Bhopal disaster case of Bias.

The Press Trust of India (P11) said the court in Jabalpur agreed to hear the charges stemming from a legal battle over ‘compensation to the victims of the world’s worst industrial disaster.

A poison gas leak from Union Carbide’s plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal in December, 1984, killed more than 2,500 people.

Lawyers for Union Carbide had accused Bhopal Judge M.W. Deo. Of Bias and asked him to withdraw from a case in which the Indian government is seeking 3.3 billion dollars in damages.

PTI said the Jabalpur court agreed to hear contempt charges against Union Carbide Chairman Robert D. Kennedy and lawyers Fali Nariman and Vijay Gupta.

It said no date for a hearing had been set.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 15, 1988