Bhopal Litigation Reaches Indian Supreme Court: Atmosphere around four-year-old case is still bitter, but resolution could be nearer as India's highest court considers appeals court decision ordering Union Carbide to pay substantial interim damages to victims

This coming weekend, the demonstrations that have come to be expected each year on the anniversary of Union Carbide's methyl isocyanate (MIC) disaster at Bhopal, India, will be taking place as usual. The victims and their activist supporters will march in that central Indian city, demanding justice. They will gather at the locked gate of Carbide's long-closed carbaryl pesticide plant, effigies will be burned, performances will be staged, and the crowds will disperse. Carbide will only quietly, and regretfully, note the event, focusing mainly on answering fourth anniversary press inquiries. Unsuccessful efforts to give relief to the victims and bring about a "generous" $350 million out-of-court settlement with the Indian government presumably will be reviewed, and Carbide's case that the cause was sabotage will again be stressed. The government of India and the state of Madhya Pradesh, where Bhopal is located, will probably issue updated tallies of the dead (about 3100), the injured-for-life (maybe ...