Bhopal: Chronology

Chronology
(As of November, 2002)

Dec. 3, 1984
Methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaks from a Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, just after midnight.

Dec. 4, 1984
As word of the disaster reaches Union Carbide's headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut, Warren Anderson (Chairman and CEO) announces that he and a technical team will go to Bhopal to assist the government in dealing with the incident. Upon his arrival, Anderson is placed under house arrest, returned to the airport in Delhi, and urged to leave India within 24 hours. UCC underwrites expenses for world recognized medical experts and medical equipment to assist the local medical community.

Dec. 10, 1984
Anderson returns from India and holds news conference at UCC headquarters. Describes his arrest and emphasizes that he was treated with "courtesy and consideration."

Dec. 14, 1984
Anderson and Browning testify before two subcommittees of the House Commerce & Energy Committee. Both emphasize safety and stress UCC's determination "to make sure that what happened at Bhopal cannot happen again."

Dec. 18, 1984
Remaining MIC at Bhopal plant is converted into finished product.

Feb. 14, 1985
UCC Employees' Bhopal Relief Fund collects more than $100,000 for victims. UCC sends more medical equipment to Bhopal.

March 15, 1985
UCC establishes in-depth programs to study the effects of over exposure to MIC.

March 20, 1985
UCC scientific team reports that a large volume of water triggered the reaction that resulted in the emission of MIC. An Indian government scientific study issued for December, 1985, reaches the same conclusion; i.e., that a large volume of water triggered the reaction.

April 18, 1985
UCC announces before U.S. District Court Judge John Keenan that it will pay an additional $5 million toward Bhopal disaster relief, bringing company contributions to more than $7 million.

April 24, 1985
Anderson, at Danbury press briefing, reports that the government of India (GOI) rejected "out of hand" a fair and comprehensive proposal to aid the Bhopal victims. UCC also announces a $2.2 million grant for Arizona State University to establish a vocational-technical center in Bhopal.

June 1, 1985
UCC contributes funds for Indian medical experts to attend meetings on research and treatment to victims.

July 2, 1985
Additional core samples confirm UCC's finding that a large volume of water caused the reaction in the MIC tank at Bhopal.

Jan. 6, 1986
UCC and UCIL offer $10 million to build a hospital to aid the victims in Bhopal.

March 12, 1986
UCC scientists report results of MIC studies at a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences meeting at Research Triangle Park, N.C. Studies suggest that MIC injures respiratory tissues, which subsequently blocks air passageways.

March 24, 1986
UCC says that a proposed settlement of $350 million could produce a fund for Bhopal victims of between $500 million and $600 million. The tentative agreement receives the overwhelming support of plaintiffs' U.S. attorneys.

May 12, 1986
Judge Keenan announces decision to transfer the Bhopal litigation to India.

Nov. 25, 1986
UCC files brief in U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan that "reaffirms our position that the proper forum for the case is in India."

Jan. 14, 1987
U.S. Court of Appeals upholds Judge Keenan's decision to send the Bhopal case to India and states that UCIL is a separate and independent legal entity, managed and operated exclusively by Indian citizens in India.

Feb. 4, 1987
UCC files motion to restrain GOI and its Central Bureau of Investigation from further harassment of a key witness (S. Sunderajan).

March 11, 1987
Indian government closes and levels Arizona State University's Bhopal Technical and Vocational Training Center.

Aug. 17, 1987
UCC announces offer of additional $4.6 million in humanitarian interim relief for immediate rehabilitation of Bhopal victims.

Sept. 14, 1987
UCC and GOI express optimism about reaching settlement.

Dec. 5, 1987
Jabalpur High Court rejects charges that UCC sought to delay proceedings of Bhopal litigation. Directs parties to cooperate in early disposal of claims arising out of Bhopal tragedy.

Dec. 17, 1987
UCC charges that a Bhopal District Court order to pay $270 million interim compensation amounts to awarding damages without a trial -- a practice that runs counter to the laws of India and other democracies.

Jan. 18, 1988
UCC files appeal in High Court of State of Madhya Pradesh to have interim compensation order set aside.

Apr. 4, 1988
Judge Seth in the Madhya Pradesh High Court upholds the interim relief order and reduces the amount to $192 million. UCC says that holding the corporation liable before a trial will not serve the needs of the Bhopal victims.

May 10, 1988
Independent investigation (152KB PDF) by Arthur D. Little, Inc. shows "with virtual certainty" that the Bhopal incident was caused by a disgruntled employee who introduced a large volume of water by connecting a water hose directly to the tank.

June 3, 1988
UCC said it will appeal to the Supreme Court of India the April 4 ruling by the State High Court.

July 26, 1988
Explaining its appeal to the Indian Supreme Court of the ruling on interim compensation, UCC says that India's use of untested legal theories made it necessary to launch the appeal. "No court that we know of in India or elsewhere in the world has previously ordered interim compensation where there is no proof of damages or where liability is strongly contested."

Sept. 8, 1988
Indian Supreme Court agrees to hear UCC's appeal of order for interim compensation.

Oct. 14, 1988
Madhya Pradesh High Court directs that case be taken away from Bhopal District Court Judge Deo, on grounds of bias, and given to a senior judge of the same court.

Nov. 2, 1988
India's Supreme Court asks GOI and UCC to make an effort to reach a settlement in the case. Chief Justice R.S. Pathak tells both sides: "You can start with a clean slate."

Feb. 14, 1989
The Supreme Court of India directs a final settlement of all Bhopal litigation in the amount of $470 million, to be paid by March 31, 1989. Both GOI and UCC accept the court's direction.

Feb. 15, 1989
The Supreme Court of India directs that UCIL be made a party to the litigation, with UCC paying $420 million of the settlement and UCIL paying the rupee equivalent of $45 million. The $5 million payment made by UCC before Judge Keenan is credited towards the settlement.

Feb. 24, 1989
UCC reports that it and UCIL have made full payment of the $470 million Bhopal settlement directed by the Supreme Court of India.

May 4, 1989
The Supreme Court, in a long opinion, explains the rationale for the settlement. The Court emphasizes that the compensation levels provided for in the settlement are well in excess of those that would ordinarily be payable under Indian law.

Dec. 22, 1989
The Supreme Court upholds the validity of the Bhopal Gas Leak Act, which authorized the government of India to act in behalf of the victims of the tragedy.

Jan. 12, 1990
The new government of India announces that it will support review petitions seeking to overturn the Bhopal settlement.

Jan. 23, 1990
Legal experts doubt that the government of India will succeed in getting more money than Union Carbide has already paid in the Bhopal settlement, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

1990
Hearings are held in the spring and summer before five Justices of the Supreme Court of India with respect to review petitions filed by activists requesting the Court to set aside the settlement. In November and December, the hearings are reopened due to the death of the Chief Justice and the appointment of a new Justice as a replacement on the five-judge panel.

Nov. 16, 1990
The State Government of Madhya Pradesh submits to the Supreme Court of India the completed categorization of the claims of all of the victims. The State determines that there were 40 victims with permanent total disability and 2,680 persons with permanent partial disability; 1,313 persons with temporary disability from permanent injury and 7,172 persons with temporary disability from temporary injury; 18,922 persons with permanent injury with no disability and 173,382 persons with temporary injury with no disability; 3,828 deaths; and 155,203 who came in for medical examination had no injury.

Dec. 18, 1990
Review petition hearings end before the Supreme Court.

Oct. 3, 1991
The Supreme Court of India: upholds the civil settlement of $470 million in its entirety; sets aside that portion of the settlement that quashed the criminal prosecutions that were pending at the time of the settlement; requires the GIO to purchase, out of the settlement fund, a group medical insurance policy to cover 100,000 asymptomatic persons who may later develop symptoms; requires the GIO to make up any shortfall, however unlikely, in the settlement fund; gives directions concerning the administration of the settlement fund; dismisses all outstanding petitions seeking review of the settlement; and requests UCC and UCIL to voluntarily fund the capital and operating costs of a hospital in Bhopal for eight years that the Court estimates would require "around Rs. 50 crores" (approximately $17 million at the time) with the land to be provided free by the State of Madhya Pradesh.

Oct. 16, 1991
UCC and UCIL agree to fund the hospital in Bhopal as requested by the Supreme Court.

April 15, 1992
UCC announces plans to sell its 50.9 percent interest in UCIL. UCC also establishes a charitable trust to ensure its share of the funding of a hospital in Bhopal and operations for up to eight years.

Oct. 4, 1993
U.S. Supreme Court declines to review U.S. Appeals Court ruling, which reaffirmed that victims of the Bhopal tragedy lacked legal standing to seek damages in the U. S. courts.

Feb. 14, 1994
Supreme Court of India says it will allow UCC to sell its shares in UCIL in order that the assets be used to build the Bhopal hospital.

Sept. 9, 1994
UCC contracts with McLeod Russel (India) Ltd. of Calcutta for sale of its 50.9 percent interest in UCIL.

Nov. 23, 1994
UCC announces completion of the sale of its 50.9 percent interest in UCIL to McLeod Russel.

December 1994
UCC fulfills its commitment for the Bhopal hospital with about $20 million turned over to the charitable trust.

Oct. 16, 1995
Groundbreaking for the hospital begins.

Jan. 16, 1997
The hospital charitable trust has $100 million, including an additional $54 million from the sale of Union Carbide's shares in UCIL.

November 1999
According to Indian press reports, the hospital is expected to be operational in 2000. Currently, the building has been completed; installation of equipment is going on, and physicians and medical staff are being selected, but have not yet assumed their duties. The hospital will have facilities for the treatment of eye, lung and heart problems.

August 28, 2000
Judge Keenan dismisses a lawsuit brought in Federal court in Manhattan, which sought to reopen the Bhopal litigation, on the grounds that plaintiffs lacked standing to sue and the claims for compensation have been settled. He finds that UCC has fully complied with his earlier decision and the orders of the Supreme Court of India.

2001
The Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, set up with the proceeds from Union Carbide's sale of its shares in Union Carbide India Ltd., begins treating patients.

February 6, 2001
Union Carbide merges with a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company and Union Carbide becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary. Following the merger transaction Dow owns all the shares of stock of Union Carbide, which remains a separate legal entity.

August 6, 2001
The Indian Attorney-General, Soli Sorabjee issues his opinion that "proceedings in the United States for extradition of Mr. Warren Anderson are not likely to succeed and therefore, the same may not be pursued." (See Information Archive, Opinion of the Attorney-General: Extradition of Mr. Warren Anderson.)

November 15, 2001
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Judge Keenan's dismissal of the lawsuit with one exception. The Court's opinion remands the case to Judge Keenan for further explanation regarding his dismissal of the "environmental claims," which are based on plaintiffs' allegation of contamination that occurred after the accident.

May 24, 2002
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India pleads that charges against Mr. Warren Anderson be reduced from culpable homicide to a negligent act.

August 28, 2002
A Bhopal Court rejects the application made by the CBI and directs the CBI to take action to pursue the extradition of Mr. Anderson.