The Supreme Court has directed the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court to register a suo motu case to trace the victims and legal heirs of the fatal 2022 industrial blast at Bharat Rasayan Ltd’s pesticide facility in Dahej, paving the way for the disbursal of pending compensation.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V Mohana issued the order after being apprised that administrative authorities had not yet succeeded in identifying the affected individuals or their family members. A relief fund of approximately Rs 3.27 crore designated for the victims is currently held by the apex court registry.
To preserve the compensation while the identification process takes place, the bench instructed the registry to place the Rs 3.27 crore into a fixed deposit for an additional year, directing that the funds be released once the high court completes the verification of the beneficiaries.
Blast Background And Environmental Penalties
The matter originates from an industrial disaster on May 17, 2022, at the Dahej manufacturing facility operated by public sector undertaking Bharat Rasayan Ltd in Gujarat. A suspected reactor defect triggered a major explosion and fire, which resulted in eight fatalities, left several people injured, and raised severe concerns regarding toxic chemical emissions and environmental contamination.
Invoking the “polluter pays” principle, the National Green Tribunal on May 29, 2024, ordered Bharat Rasayan Ltd to pay roughly Rs 13.5 crore in environmental compensation. The tribunal mandated that the Gujarat Pollution Control Board use the entire penalty strictly for environmental remediation and restoration projects within a 10-kilometre radius of the affected plant.
Disposal Of The Proceedings
During the hearing, the bench took formal note of submissions from the Central Pollution Control Board confirming that the Gujarat pollution authority had previously been directed to allocate the Rs 13.5 crore exclusively toward regional environmental cleanup.
The top court had previously declined an appeal to dilute the environmental penalty, which had been calculated at five per cent of the company’s turnover following the 2022 accident. Following the directions issued to the high court regarding victim identification and the extension of the fixed deposit, the Supreme Court formally disposed of the petition.
