Twenty years after the deadly Bhopal gas leak claimed 15,000 lives and injured 500,000 more, the Supreme Court on Monday directed that the money deposited by the Union Carbide as compensation with the court be distributed among the victims.

Also Read Bhopal gas: Centre OKs action against Union Carbide

A bench comprising Justice Shivaraj V Patil and Justice B N Srikrishna passed the order on a petition filed by representatives of 36 affected wards in Bhopal, which had turned into a graveyard after the leakage of deadly
methyl iso-cyante from the Carbide factory on the night of December 2-3, 1984.

The immediate toll was over 4,000, but the figure swelled as people, suffering from the poisonous effects of the gas, continued to die in various hospitals.

The Carbide, on the basis of a settlement reached with the Union government, had deposited $ 470 mn with the Supreme Court.

While claims worth Rs 86 crore have been settled already and another Rs 1100 crore distributed among the victims in one form or the other, the remaining amount lying in the court's custody has grown to Rs 1,503 crore because of accumulation of interest.

The bench directed the welfare commissioner, appointed under the Bhopal Gas Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 to disburse the compensation on a pro-rate basis.

The court has sought a report from the commissioner in three months.