1) Dow is protecting a fugitive from justice:
Union Carbide Corporation, proclaimed absconder - or fugitive from justice - by Indian courts since 1992 (see below), is since 2001 an 100% owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical. Union Carbide's proclamation as absconder removes any doubt that the Corporation is guilty,
if not of causing the disaster, then at least of ducking the law.
In January 2005, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal, summoned Dow to ongoing criminal proceedings to ensure that Union Carbide is presented in court to answer charges of culpable homicide and other serious offences.
2) Dow is helping Union Carbide carry on its business in India:
Dow continues to profit from the sale of UCC technology and assets even while shielding the company and distancing itself from UCC's liabilities. Documents from US courts show
that through subsidiaries such as Dow Global Technologies Inc (DGTI) and Dow Chemical
International Private Ltd. (DCIPL), Dow is selling Union Carbide's products, processes
and services in India. This has been brought to the notice of
the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal.
3) Dow lies to official agencies to further its own business:
Dow is prepared to lie and shield Union Carbide's relationship to its own products. In 2005, Indian Oil revoked a technology contract after it found out that Dow had lied to it about the origin and ownership of the technology. Dow sought to pass off Union Carbide-owned technology as it's own in order to avoid questions about UCC's status as a fugitive.
Dow has also submitted false information to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. In the Environment Impact Assessment report regarding its silicone polymer plant in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra, Dow provided a map of a similar facility in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, USA, passing it off as the Ranjangaon facility.
4) Dow bribes Indian officials:
Earlier this year, Dow Chemical was pulled by the US Securities
and Exchange Commission for having paid more than $200,000 in bribes to Indian agriculture
ministry officials to expedite registration of three pesticides, including one (Dursban) that is
prohibited for domestic use owing to its proven toxic effects on the mental development of children.
In August 2007 CBI officials raided seven offices and houses of Dow Agrosciences for investigating
this crime of bribery.
This scandal, which falls under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, proves that Dow will employ corruption in India to expedite registration of its toxic products, even those withdrawn from home use in the
US.
5) Dow follows double standards in producing and selling Dursban in India:
In 2000, following documentation by the Environmental Protection Agency of adverse health effects - particularly neuro-toxic injuries among growing children - of Dow chemical's insecticide "Dursban", Dow was forced to withdraw sale of Dursban for residential use. In 2003, Dow paid 2 million dollars as fine - the largest pesticide enforcement penalty in US history - for falsely claiming in an advertisement that Dursban was safe for humans.
In India, nevertheless, Dow produces and distributes Dursban, claiming that is safe for "humans and pets". More information about Dursban can be found via the following links (pdf files): 1, 2, 3.
6) Dow uses back-room deals to undermine the law:
Dow wants the benefits of investing in booming India but it doesn't want the legal, social and environmental responsibilities that go with it. Documents gained through the Right to Information Act show that Dow is exerting pressure on Indian officials at the highest possible level to rid it of legal liabilities inherited from Union Carbide.
7) Dow misrepresents the law to hide its legal responsibilities:
Dow maintains it is only a shareholder in Carbide, and therefore not responsible for any of its legal liabilities. Dow's Indian lawyer and Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi has parroted this position to the Prime Minister's office. Now, reports suggest the Law Ministry is using the same argument in its legal note designed clear the way for Dow's investment in India. Examination of US common law and merger law demonstrates that Dow, Singhvi and the Law ministry are perpetuating a legal lie to try to help Dow escape its Bhopal liabilities.
