On September 26, the Supreme Court of India issued notices to several senior officials, including the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Chief Secretary of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, and the Principal Secretary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation Department. The notices were issued in connection with a contempt petition concerning the failure to comply with directions issued by the Court in 2012 aimed at improving medical care for Bhopal gas tragedy victims and the computerisation of their medical records.

 

A bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice A.S. Chandurkar heard the petition, which relates to non-compliance with orders passed in Writ Petition No. 50 of 1998—Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sangathan v. Union of India—on August 9, 2012. The 2012 order had not only outlined steps for the systematic provision of medical care to the victims but also mandated the transfer of administrative oversight to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur Bench, to ensure proper implementation of the directives.

 

The contempt petition highlights that despite the passage of more than a decade, the directions of the Court remain largely unimplemented. The petitioners had initially filed a contempt petition in 2015, addressing the ongoing non-compliance. However, the High Court has largely refrained from taking any punitive action against the authorities responsible, leaving the matter unresolved for over ten years.

 

Key allegations in the contempt petition include the following:

1. Monitoring Committee Reports Ignored: The Court had originally constituted a Monitoring Committee in 2004, which was reconstituted by the High Court in 2013. Justice V.K. Agarwal, a retired judge of the High Court, was appointed as its Chairperson. Since then, the Committee has submitted 21 reports detailing the steps required by authorities to comply with the 2012 directions. Despite these repeated recommendations, there has been minimal implementation of the suggested actions.

2. Vacant Medical Posts and Staff Shortages: The Monitoring Committee has reported that numerous faculty members and doctors at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) have either left their positions or are in the process of leaving. Despite these warnings, the authorities have failed to fill essential medical vacancies. Previous High Court directives, including one dated September 7, 2016, instructed the Union Government to submit a report on recruitment and warned that coercive measures could be initiated for non-compliance. In 2017, the High Court explicitly observed that the Union Government was deliberately delaying the recruitment process and failing to formulate necessary rules for filling vacancies.

3. Incomplete Computerisation of Medical Records: Although the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and BMHRC have claimed that the computerisation of patient records has been completed, the Monitoring Committee has noted that the system is neither patient-centric nor fully functional. The computerized records fail to provide a comprehensive treatment history, limiting their practical utility for patient care.

4. Repeated Warnings Ignored: Since 2013, the High Court has repeatedly warned the responsible authorities about the consequences of non-compliance. Despite these warnings, the authorities have continued to exhibit negligence in implementing the Court’s directives. On January 6, 2025, the High Court expressly criticized the callous approach of the State authorities, remarking that “it seems that the respondents are not serious about the work to be completed.”

 

The Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing of the contempt petition for November 14, 2025. The petition underscores a persistent failure on the part of the responsible authorities to safeguard the health and welfare of Bhopal gas tragedy victims despite more than a decade of monitoring and multiple judicial directions.