Twelve members of the United States Congress have sent a letter to the US Department of Justice, urging them to take swift action to serve Dow Chemical Company with the summons issued by the Bhopal district court in the ongoing criminal case related to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The incident marks its 40th anniversary on December 2-3.
In their letter, the congressional members, including Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal, and Frank Pallone Jr., stressed the importance of Dow Chemical Company responding to India’s repeated requests for its appearance in court. The requests are made under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Criminal Matters, 2001.
Dow Chemicals, the current owner of Union Carbide Corporation Limited, owned the Bhopal fertilizer facility from which deadly gas leaked in December 1984, resulting in the loss of numerous lives and permanent injuries to others.
Despite receiving seven summonses to appear in the Bhopal court for trial, Dow Chemical’s owner is yet to comply with the court’s orders. The US Department of Justice has been criticized for its lack of progress in serving these summonses, prompting the congressional members to call for corrective action.
They emphasize that the Department’s inaction is tarnishing the nation’s reputation for upholding international legal and moral standards.
