On December 2, 1984, deadly gas leaked from the plant in Bhopal, India, which was regulated by the Union Carbide Corporation. More than three thousand people were killed because of the disaster. During the first days after the disaster, the Union Carbide Corporation refused to take moral and financial responsibility for the tragedy caused in Bhopal, India. The changes in the corporation’s approach and strategy were associated with enacting the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act developed by the Indian government in 1985. That is why the disaster in Bhopal led to the development and enactment of the effective legislation to regulate the controversial situations associated with catastrophe and necessary compensations. The purpose of enacting the law was to resolve the problematic situation of rejecting moral responsibility for the disaster by the Union Carbide Corporation. However, the Union Carbide Corporation finally agreed with points stated by the Indian government in the Act and took the moral responsibility for the tragedy.
While enacting the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act, the Indian government focused on the principle of equitability while discussing the claims of the tragedy’s victims. The policy enabled the Indian government to act as a representative of the victims’ interests in all the legal proceedings associated with the accident to ensure that the victims could receive the necessary compensation. The Indian government performed the role of a regulator in the conflict concerning the compensation issues with references to the developed Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act because the Act allowed the shift from relying on the U.S. legislation to using the advantages of the Indian jurisdiction to resolve the problem. The Union Carbide Corporation paid the stated compensation for the damages caused because of the accident. The enactment of the specific law contributed to positive changes for the victims of the disaster because the Act was associated with the Doctrine of forum non conveniens. According to it, the U.S. courts had to decline hearing the cases because of the stated competence of the Indian courts to hear the cases with references to the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act. The discussed approach helped the representatives of the Indian victims in preventing the unjust actions of the Union Carbide Corporation oriented to manipulation of the data necessary to name companies and persons responsible for the tragedy.
Referring to the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act, the government of India ensured that the victims’ interests were protected appropriately, and the attempts to manipulate the consequences of the tragedy were prevented or overcome because of the Indian government’s exclusive right to present the interests of the accident’s victims in courts. As a result, the enactment of the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act was an effective decision to stimulate the process and discuss the issue under the Indian jurisdiction to contribute to making the Union Carbide Corporation take the moral and financial responsibility for the tragedy.