SC urged for permission to windup Bhopal gas compensation work

Urging the Supreme Court to permit it to windup the work of disbursement of compensation to the victims of the Bhopal gas leak tragedy, Office of the Welfare Commissioner has informed the apex court that it was being forced to deal with the fraudsters as the genuine claimants were not traceable.

According to the Commissioner, during the period from January to September 2009, the Commissioner’s Office incurred an expenditure of Rs 3.46 crore while the compensation disbursed during this period was only Rs 46.98 lakh in 161 cases.

According to the Commissioner’s Office, 11,820 cases of compensation, which are presently pending should be closed down as hardly any claimant in these cases is traceable.

Massive fraud being committed by bogus claimants, came to light last year, when a pilgrim after returning from Hajj, returned Rs 31,000, which he had already received from the Commissioner on the basis of bogus papers.

The total amount to be received back by the Commissioner stands at Rs 64 lakh.

In total, 146 FIRs have been lodged by the Commissioner out of which 67 FIRs were lodged in February last year alone.

Also, 26 fake death certificates have been detected.

The government had placed the amount of Rs 1503.01 crore, which was available with the Reserve Bank of India for disbursal among the victims of the tragedy which had engulfed the city of Bhopal in December 1984 when poisonous gas leaked out from American company, Union Carbide leaving about 3,000 dead and large numbers rendered physically incapacitated for the whole life.

Office of the Welfare Commissioner through its counsel W A Qadri has prayed to the apex court that since the commission is proving to be a white elephant for the state exchequer as Rs 3 crore was spent in the commission for disbursal of compensation of Rs 47 lakh only, during first nine months last year.