Bhopal: The Union Carbide on Tuesday submitted
that maintenance and safety norms were properly adhered to in
the factory and refuted the charge that company had decided to
shift the "plant in bad shape" prior to the 1984 tragedy.
Denying CBI charges that lack of maintenance and safety
measures led to the world`s worst industrial disaster, defence
counsel D Prasad told Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P
Tiwari, that all steps were adhered to keep the factory in a
proper shape.
He said the experts from Union Carbide Corporation, USA,
who visited the Union Carbide of India Limited (UCIL) plant
following the death of a worker in 1982, did not find any
fault in the unit.
Prasad said the UCIL was so much concerned on safety
front that after the death of Mohammed Ashraf Khan, it
reported the matter to the UCC, which carried out a safety
audit.
After the UCC team`s visit, its recommendations to
improve the safety measures were taken care of in the
stipulated time.
The defence counsel also refuted the charge that
UCIL, Bhopal was running into losses and as a result of it,
this unit was not in a proper shape.
The counsel said UCIL had 17 factories across the country
and except Bhopal unit, all others were earning profit. Salary
for staffers at Bhopal was hiked before the tragedy.
He said there was no retrenchment in the unit and it had
adequate work force.
The defence refuted the prosecution charge that the UCIL
had decided to dismantle and shift the Bhopal plant to a
foreign country - Brazil or Indonesia - following financial
loss and therefore the factory was not in a good shape.
The prosecution has merely based this theory on a written
communication between two officers - one of UCIL and other of
Union Carbide Eastern, Hong Kong, the counsel claimed.
The communication was just related to preliminary study
to look into feasibility of dismantling and shifting the unit.
Such a big decision can`t be taken by two officers rather
by the Board of Directors. The plan was not in the agenda of
Board of Directors, he told the court.
The defence will continue its final argument for the
third consecutive day tomorrow.
PTI
