The Tamil Nadu government has accused Vedanta in the Supreme Court of indulging in “quick fixes” every time an environmental violation regarding the operation of its Sterlite Copper plant was pointed out. Vedanta countered that the State government was bent on harassing the company for political motives.
Arguing before a Bench of Justices Rohinton F. Nariman and Navin Sinha, senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar said the State could not have been expected to be a mute spectator to continued environmental violations by the Sterlite plant.
‘A victim’
“Am I as a regulator supposed to let them keep on doing it?” Mr. Krishnakumar asked in court on Thursday. “So you said enough is enough...” Justice Nariman asked with a smile.
Rebutting, senior advocate C.A. Sundaram, for Vedanta, said the company had been a victim of “harassment” from the State.
“The Tamil Nadu government gave me a bad name and hung me by it. Pollution reports shown now are dated six months after I shut down operations. They ignored my appeals for daily maintenance to prevent sulphuric acid leaks for fear of loss of face. It was all political for them,” Mr. Sundaram countered.
Mr. Sundaram submitted that both times the State had accused the plant of breaking pollution norms and ordered its closure, the plant had already been shut down for the purpose of maintenance. “I was not operating in those months when the government ordered my closure. If I was already closed for maintenance, how is it that they concluded I was polluting?” Mr. Sundaram asked. “In Dharmapuri, there are industries in the thousands. TDS rate is high. So what are they (State) going to do? Close it all? I have been harassed for political motives. All this links to the election year of 1996,” Mr. Sundaram argued.
Rising pollution
The Tamil Nadu government has alleged in the Supreme Court that pollution from Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi went up steadily along with increase in production.
The arguments for the State government were made before a Bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Navin Sinha by senior advocates K.V. Vishwanathan and Guru Krishnakumar.
The court is hearing the appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government that the NGT failed to consider the entire gamut of data, documents and evidence before directing the board to pass fresh orders of renewal of consent and issue authorisation to Vedanta to handle hazardous substances.
The State argued that the tribunal went outside the four walls of the statute governing its functions to appoint the Justice Tarun Agarwal Committee to prepare a report in the case.
The State has contended in its appeal that Vedanta did not comply with pollution norms, and the situation had severely deteriorated since 1996.
