What’s the difference between being a first-world country and being a third-world country? IBM has pulled out of the race for buying Satyam since it fears it will face several class action suits in the US (‘IBM pulls out of race for Satyam on lawsuit fears’, April 7). This is a rational and sensible thing to do. Contrast this with Dow Chemicals’, another US giant, decision to buy Union Carbide even after its role in the Bhopal disaster. The reason why Dow did not hesitate to buy Union Carbide was that it knew there would be no class action suits in India. Citizens in first-world countries file class-action suits for their rights, those in the Third World don’t. And even if some suits were filed, Dow knew the Indian government would do its best to make them go away. It also knew it could count on the supplicant chambers of commerce to argue that the government needed to make the case go away in order to project an investor-friendly image.
Sapna Gulati, New Delhi
