This is just one of the numerous ways in which the Bhopal gas victims have been cheated over the years. This, even though it was clear that the safety systems in the Bhopal plant were ill-equipped to neutralise the toxicity of the materials stored in it and that the UCIL was running the plant by violating all established safety procedures. In 1989, the Supreme Court had quashed all criminal proceedings against the accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. Proceedings were revived only after writ petitions were filed protesting this move. Later, in the early '90s, repeated attempts were made to summon Warren Anderson, the UCC chairman at the time of the disaster,before the court, but to no avail. Although permission was sought to inspect the UCC's plant in Institute, West Virginia, to compare standards of the safety systems installed there with those in the Bhopal plant, nothing came of this as well. As if all this wasn't enough, charges brought against eight senior UCIL officials were also subsequently diluted by the apex court.

It has been an unequal battle right from the start. Those who sought justice in the Bhopal gas tragedy cases were amongst the poorest and most marginalised. In contrast, the accused were extremely powerful and could access the talent of some of the world's best legal luminaries to fight their case. Ian Percival, a former solicitor general of England, was no doubt one such luminary. Now it is up to the Union government and the courts to ensure that every attempt is made to correct the wrongs of the past. Not only must there be a high-level inquiry into the financial affairs of the Bhopal Hospital Trust, no effort must be spared to ensurethat the reconstituted Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust honour its brief and make certain that the new 290-bed hospital for the gas survivors is properly equipped and run.