Sterlite Copper case: Vedanta moves SC challenging Madras HC order

As expected, the Vedanta group has appealed in the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Madras High Court rejecting the company’s plea to reopen the Sterlite Copper’s smelter unit at Thoothukudi.

Justices TS Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan of the Madras HC in an 815-page judgment on August 18 dismissed a batch of 10 petitions filed by Vedanta, among other things, challenging the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) order rejecting the consent to operate the plant.

The Judges had even refused to order status quo to enable Vedanta go on appeal in the Supreme Court. A petition to demolish the plant has been referred to the Madurai Bench of the Court.

Sterlite, which contributed nearly 40 per cent of India’s copper demand, has been accused of polluting the environment and closed repeatedly in the last two decades. It had to seek legal remedy each time to re-start its operations. In fact, the Supreme Court had once fined the company ₹100 crore for violating the norms but allowed it to re-open the plant.

The latest legal battle is over the closure of the plant in May 2018 due to protests in Thoothukudi after the company got approval to double its smelter capacity to 8 lakh tonnes. As the protests gained momentum, the TNPCB on April 9, 2018, refused to grant the consent to operate citing environmental concerns. In May, the TNPCB ordered closure of the plant permanently after 13 anti-Sterlite protestors were shot in police firing on May 22.

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