IN A significant decision, the Supreme Court today permitted Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) and Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti (BGPSSS) to inspect the audited account, from 1998 to 2004, of Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) Trust to check for any irregularities.
A division bench of Justice B N Srikrishna and Justice L S Panta asked the petitioner BGPMUS and BGPSSS (New Delhi) to complete the inspection of accounts of Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust within two weeks and file a report within a week thereafter in case any bungling was found in maintenance of the accounts.
The bench fixed May 2 for further hearing in the matter. In 2004, the Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust had sought additional fund from Supreme Court to run the state-of-the-art hospital constructed for gas victims.
The Apex Court has Rs 40 crore of gas victims in its custody. The BGPMUS and BGPSSS moved a joint application opposing any further allocation on the ground that accounts of the Trust were never made public after it came into being.
The petitioner also said there were serious pprehensions that there could be bungling of amount and misuse of funds already available with the Trust.
{{/usCountry}}The petitioner also said there were serious pprehensions that there could be bungling of amount and misuse of funds already available with the Trust.
{{/usCountry}}The application had further urged the court to order the Trust to make its accounts public before any decision on allotment of more funds as requested by it. Welcoming the court’s decision, BGPMUS convener Abdul Jabbar hoped the Trust would learn a lesson or two from the decision and shed secrecy, which it has so far maintained on functioning.
“The Trust headed by a former Chief Justice of India should have realised that it is a public trust and the money at its disposal is that of gas victims, who have all the right to demand scrutiny of its accounts,” he said.