Keshub Mahindra’s daughter says she will fight Bhopal gas tragedy case on his behalf to clear his name

BHOPAL: Uma Ranjeet, the daughter of Keshub Mahindra, has said she will pursue the Bhopal gas tragedy case in court after his demise to get his name cleared.Keshub Mahindra, who passed away on April 12 this year, at 99 was non-executive chairman of Union Carbide of India Ltd (UCIL), when the gas tragedy struck Bhopal in 1984. He had declined the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award of India, in 2002 because of the Bhopal tragedy. In June 2010, he was convicted, along with seven others, in the Union Carbide case. Standing counsel for UCIL in the case, Ajay Gupta, told TOI that Keshub Mahindra’s daughter has expressed the desire before the sessions court to pursue the case on his behalf to get the clean chit for her late father. Keshub Mahindra, born on October 9, 1923, was a graduate of the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. After returning from the US, he joined Mahindra & Mahindra — a company founded by his father Jagdish Chandra Mahindra and uncle Kailash Chandra Mahindra. He took over as chairman of the company in 1963 and held the position until his retirement in 2012.During this time, he led the company’s partnerships with corporations including International Harvester, British Telecom, Ford Motor Company and the Mitsubishi Group. At the time of his retirement, the company was a diversified conglomerate with interests in software, aerospace, defence, real estate and hospitality. Mahindra was appointed by the Government of India to serve on various committees. From 2004 TO 2010, he was a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry.During a hearing of the revision petition filed by both the prosecuting agency, CBI, and the accused sentenced for criminal negligence in the Bhopal gas tragedy, an NGO named ‘Bhopal Group for Information & Action’ (BGIA), which works with the gas victims, told the court that the case has been pending for 13 years and during this period, four of the nine convicts have passed away. The NGO requested the court to expedite the hearing and dispose of the case quickly.The new district & sessions judge, Manoj Kumar Shrivastava, who heard the case for the first time, was informed about the demise of Keshub Mahindra. His death certificate was presented in the court. The judge asked the CBI to verify Mahindra’s death and get back to the court. The next hearing is on May 16.