Dahej industrial accident: Supreme Court asks Gujarat HC to initiate suo motu case to trace and compensate victims

The Supreme Court on Wednesday requested the Gujarat High Court to initiate suo motu proceedings to identify the victims of the May 2022 Dahej industrial accident, in order to pay compensation due to them under a National Green Tribunal (NGT) ruling confirmed by the top court. .An amount of ₹3,27, 82,418 had earlier been deposited with the Court's registry, which was earmarked for compensating the victims of the 2022 blast and fire at Bharat Rasayan’s pesticide plant in Dahej, Gujarat.This fixed deposit was made after the company submitted in August 2024 that it was not able to readily trace some of the intended beneficiaries of the compensation. On Wednesday, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said that this cannot be a ground to indefintely delay the payment of compensation to the victims. "The earlier inability to trace the beneficiaries cannot defeat, or indefinitely postpone, disbursal. We cannot accept the bald-faced plea taken by the appellant-company that the claimants are not traceable. A Court-supervised exercise is necessary to identify them, verify their entitlement and facilitate payment," it said. .The Court, therefore, requested the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court to ensure that suo motu proceedings are registered to trace the remaining beneficiaries and pay them the due compensation amounts. The High Court has been requested to identify certain injured persons and the legal heirs of three deceased employees named in a National Green Tribunal (NGT) judgment, and to verify their identity and entitlement to the compensation. Where necessary, the High Court may determine the inter se shares of legal heirs, but without reopening the quantum of compensation awarded by the NGT.It may also obtain records and assistance from Bharat Rasayan, the relevant authorities and the District Legal Services Authority at Bharuch, and direct the publication of notices, if considered necessary. Each verified beneficiary is to be paid the compensation amount due with proportionate interest..The fixed deposit, due to mature on September 17, will be renewed for one year or until the amount is transferred, whichever is earlier, the Court added. After verification, the High Court's Registrar General will forward the beneficiaries' particulars to the Supreme Court Registry, which will transfer the money for disbursal, the Court said. "Any undistributed balance shall remain in an interest-bearing deposit under the orders of the High Court," the order further stated..Eight people died, and several others were injured on May 17, 2022 after the blast at Bharat Rasayan’s pesticide plant in Dahej, Gujarat. On May 29, 2024, the NGT's Western Zone Bench at Pune awarded additional compensation of ₹2,75,92,936 to the legal heirs of three deceased employees, Sudhansusekhara Baman Sadhangi, Kundan Kumar Jha and Amit Kailasrao Bijawe, and ₹17,60,000 to the injured. It also imposed environmental compensation on the company.This was challenged before the Supreme Court by Bharat Rasayan, which in August 2024 directed the company to pay the NGT-ordered additional victim compensation.However, the company later told the Court that it could not trace these beneficiaries. In view of this, the company was directed to deposit this compensation with the Supreme Court's registry.On Wednesday, the Court noted that Bharat Rasayan's appeal was eventually disposed of on August 7 this year. By this final order, the Court declined to interfere with the environmental compensation aspect and directed the Gujarat Pollution Control Board to spend it strictly as per its disclosed utilisation plan.However, the final order did not deal with the disbursal of the ₹3.27 crores of victim compensation money, which was lying as a fixed deposit with the Supreme Court's Registry. This gap led the Registry to seek clarifications, in view of which the Court has now directed the Gujarat High Court to take necesary steps in the matter. .[Read Order]