New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has issued notices to top government officials in connection with a contempt plea alleging non-compliance with its 2012 directives. The orders were aimed at ensuring better medical care for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims and digitisation of their medical records.
The notices have been served to the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, and the Principal Secretary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation Department. The contempt proceedings stem from the case Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sangathan v. Union of India, in which detailed directions were issued by the Apex Court on August 9, 2012.
Back in 2012, the Supreme Court had stressed the need for systematic medical care for gas victims and instructed the Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to oversee implementation. However, more than a decade later, compliance with these directives has remained incomplete, according to a report by Law Chakra.
Although the petitioners first moved a contempt plea in 2015, no significant punitive action was taken against the authorities. This prolonged inaction has resulted in thousands of victims being deprived of adequate medical facilities. Reports indicate that a Monitoring Committee, initially formed in 2004 and reconstituted in 2013 under Justice V.K. Agarwal (Retd.), has submitted 21 reports recommending corrective steps, which were largely ignored by the authorities.
The plea also highlights a severe shortage of doctors and faculty members at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC). Despite repeated warnings by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, recruitment has not been expedited. In 2017, the High Court flagged delays in filling vacancies and criticised the failure to frame recruitment rules.
Another allegation in the plea concerns the digitisation of medical records. While the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and BMHRC have claimed the process is complete, the Monitoring Committee has pointed out that the system lacks a patient-centric approach and fails to provide a comprehensive treatment history, making it ineffective. In January 2025, the High Court again criticised the “callous approach” of the authorities and warned of coercive action.
After hearing the plea, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice A.S. Chandurkar issued notices to the concerned officials and fixed the matter for further hearing on November 14, 2025. Earlier, in 2021, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had also pulled up the Union Government for not providing a full status report on medical facilities at BMHRC for those affected by the 1984 Union Carbide disaster.
