The Supreme Court on Tuesday will start hearing an appeal filed by natural resources company Vedanta Ltd against the Madras High Court’s refusal in August 2020 to re-open the Sterlite Copper smelting plantat Thoothukudi.
The case has been listed in the Supreme Court before a three-member bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud; Justice Surya Kant and Justice Vikram Nath.
The legal battle in the Madras High Court was over the closure of the plant 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.
Justices TS. Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan dismissed all ten writ petitions filed by Vedanta challenging various orders passed by the State government and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board refusing consent to operate, to stop production, to disconnect electricity and to seal the premises.
In the 815 page judgement, the judges agreed that the prohibitory orders were rightly passed for violation of laws relating to pollution control. The Court heard the arguments from both sides for 42 days. The Judges had even refused to order status quo to enable Vedanta to go on appeal in the Supreme 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. The Supreme Court had once fined the company ₹100 crore for violating the norms, but allowed it to re-open the plant.
Meanwhile, Sterlite had recently launched a Microsite (https://www.sterlitecopperfacts.in/) , sharing complete information on media coverage about Sterlite, certified reports and studies from renowned institutions that clearly establish Sterlite Copper as an environmentally compliant organisation. It also provides details of all community initiatives being taken up around our copper plant at Thoothukudi.
"Our aim is to provide scientific facts about Sterlite Copper to clear all rumours around a plant that follows best global practices," said A Sumathi, Chief Operating Officer, Sterlite Copper, a unit of Vedanta.
“People from the surrounding villages are now voicing their support for the reopening of the plant which will, in turn, improve their livelihood and support economic development of the local community, she said.