The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order allowing mining major Vedanta access to the administrative unit of the Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi.
A Bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Indu Malhotra disposed of a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government while asking the NGT to consider whether Vedanta’s plea before the tribunal against the closure of the Sterlite plant was maintainable or not.
The State had contended that the NGT had no jurisdiction to hear Vedanta’s plea. It had argued that the NGT “failed to note that an order passed by the State government under Section 18 (1)(b) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, is not appealable before the NGT as per the statute”.
The State also contended that the matter before the NGT “pertains to civil disputes relating to the environment and not a policy decision taken by the State of Tamil Nadu”.
The tribunal’s Principal Bench had specifically barred the company from accessing the production unit and had directed the district magistrate to ensure the same.
The State’s move in the Supreme Court came even as a successive hearing in the case was scheduled for August 20.
The Tamil Nadu government argued that the NGT had failed to note that the company “had approached various forum [sic] i.e., the Appellate Authority, TNPCB and Madurai Bench [of the] Madras High Court”, and therefore, “the present composite appeal is not maintainable in law”.
The Tamil Nadu government, in May, ordered the State’s Pollution Control Board to seal the mining group's copper plant following violent protests over pollution concerns.
Earlier, in April, the Board had rejected Sterlite's plea to renew its Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions.
Following this, the government issued a permanent closure notice to the plant. Vedanta moved the NGT, seeking permission to operate the unit.
Vedanta welcomes order
A statement from Vedanta Group’s Sterlite Copper on Friday said that the company welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. In a release it stated: “We welcome the Honourable Supreme Court’s decision directing that both the maintainability and the merit of our case should be heard and decided by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).”
“Our appeal is already scheduled for hearing before the NGT on August 20th,” the statement added.
On August 9, the NGT told Sterlite that it could access the administrative unit of the plant.
The tribunal clearly indicated that the plant would remain closed.
