Jail terms for Bhopal tragedy

A court yesterday found the Indian unit of US chemicals giant Union Carbide and seven Indian former employees guilty of negligence over one of the world's worst industrial accidents.

In 1984, the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal accidentally released toxic gases. The Government says about 3500 people were killed, and activists say 25,000 died in the years that followed.

The seven Indians were sentenced to two years in jail, a penalty activists immediately condemned as inadequate.

Keshub Mahindra, chairman of top utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra, was the highest ranking person convicted. He was chairman of Union Carbide India at the time of the disaster.

Those convicted are expected to appeal - a process that can take years.