Former Chief Justice welcomes move

Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar, one of the two former judges who had ordered closure of Sterlite’s copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi district during their tenure in the Madras High Court in September 2010, has welcomed an order passed by the State government on Monday directing Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to close the plant permanently and seal the first unit.

Mr. Justice Vasanthakumar had got elevated as Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court in February 2015 and retired from service in March 2017. When contacted, he said the verdict delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao (since dead) and himself on September 28, 2010 in the Madras High Court was a well merited judgment passed after personal verification of complaints related to environmental issues.

“When I visited Thoothukudi for some other work, I personally saw the environmental degradation that was caused due to the industry. I could see for myself how the groundwater had been polluted due to the plant. It would be apt to say that I was able to personally feel the heat over there. After the visit, I apprised Dharma Rao about the situation and it was only after that we decided to order the closure of the plant,” he recalled.

The former judge pointed out that the first case against the copper plant was filed by the National Trust for Clean Environment (NTCE), a non-governmental organisation based in Chennai, in 1996. In the first writ petition, it had challenged the environmental clearance granted to the plant by the Centre on January 16, 1995. The same trust had filed another writ petition too challenging the consent given by the TNPCB on May 25, 1995, for the operation of the plant.

Subsequently, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko filed a writ petition in 1997 and K. Kanagaraj, secretary of Thoothukudi district committee of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), filed a petition in 1998. All the cases were clubbed together and the CPI too got impleaded in 1999. During the course of the hearing, the court directed the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to inspect the plant and submit a report.

In its November 17, 1998 report, NEERI had indicated that the Centre as well as State government had granted clearance and consent respectively in contravention of the relevant statutory requirements and had permitted the plant to be established within 25 km of an ecologically fragile area. It was also pointed out that the permission had been granted by relaxing the green belt requirements without adequate and acceptable justifications.

Though Sterlite objected to the 1998 report and instead relied upon NEERI’s 2003 report titled ‘Comprehensive Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Existing (Full Capacity Operation) and Proposed Expansion of Sterlite Industries’ during the final hearing of the writ petitions, the Division Bench refused to accept the latter report after pointing out that the 2003 report had been sponsored by the company itself.

Groundwater polluted

The Bench said that yet another report of NEERI released in March 2005 had tabulated various metal contents in different types of waste from the plant and it showed high concentration of heavy metals, arsenic and flourides which were hazardous substances. Further, pointing out that groundwater samples taken in the vicinity of the plant showed elevated values of copper, chrome, lead, cadmium and arsenic, the Bench ordered immediate closure of the plant.

However, Sterlite took the judgment on appeal to the Supreme Court and a Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and H.L. Gokhale (a former Chief Justice of Madras High Court) set aside the High Court’s order on April 2, 2013, after directing the company to pay a compensation of ₹100 crore for having caused damage to the environment. The Thoothukudi Collector was ordered to keep the money in a fixed deposit and use the interest for improvement of the environment.

“The plant of the appellant contributes substantially to copper production in India and copper is used in defence, electricity, automobile, construction and infrastructure etc. The plant has about 1,300 employees and it also provides employment to a large number of people through contractors. A number of ancillary industries are also dependent on the plant. Through its various transactions, the plant generates a huge revenue to Central and State governments,” the Supreme Court had said.