The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Tamil Nadu government on an appeal filed by Vedanta Ltd. against the Madras High Court’s rejection of its plea to re-open the Sterlite copper smelting plant at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.
The court, however, refused a plea for the immediate stay of the High Court verdict. A Bench led by Justice Rohinton asked the lawyers to argue their plea for interim relief when the case comes up next for hearing after four weeks.
Senior advocate Aryama Sundaram and advocate Rohini Musa said the factory, which has been closed for over a year and a half was in “terrible shape”. They sought an interim relief to allow personnel into the premises for a check-up.
‘Factory in dire straits’
“The factory is in dire straits,” Mr. Sundaram told the court.
“We are not going to do anything today,” Justice Nariman responded.
Mr. Sundaram said the court should protect the appellant from any “coercive steps” from the Tamil Nadu government.
“We will issue notice to the State,” Justice Nariman replied.
The plant was closed in May 2018 following an order by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) over pollution concerns. Protests against the plant saw 13 people die in police firing.
Mr. Sundaram has argued that the High Court decision on August 18 to keep the plant closed was a “retrograde step”.
“Instead of being self-sufficient in copper, a situation has been created by which India now imports two billion dollars of copper from China,” Mr. Sundaram had reacted to the High Court decision.
Mr. Sundaram argued there was no notice or complaint of pollution prior to the closure of the plant.
In February last year, the Supreme Court set aside the National Green Tribunal (NGT) decision to re-open the plant . The tribunal had directed the TNPCB to pass fresh orders of renewal of consent and issue authorisation to Vedanta Limited, which owns the plant, to handle hazardous substances.
However, at the time, the Supreme Court had not delved into the merits of the case while peremptorily setting aside the tribunal decision on the ground of maintainability alone.
The court’s decision was based on an appeal filed by the State, through advocate M. Yogesh Kanna. The State argued that the NGT failed to consider the entire gamut of data, documents and evidence placed on record in the case to show that the plant had “irreversibly polluted the ground water in and around Thoothukudi district”.
