The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has appointed former Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice Tarun Agrawal as head of an independent committee constituted by the green panel to look into Vedanta’s plea challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s order on the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel appointed Justice Agrawal as the head of the committee after former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice S.J. Vazifdar recused himself from the matter.
“The matter has been put up on receipt of a communication from Justice S.J. Vazifdar, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and former Judge of Bombay High Court, expressing inability to accept the appointment for personal reasons” read the order dated August 30.
A balanced view
During the hearing, the counsel appearing for Vedanta asked the NGT to hear the matter and not refer it to the committee. However, the bench said, “The issues will require informal and local intervention and we require some kind of report. We are trying to have an independent body that can apprise us of the situation.”
The tribunal also reiterated that access to the administrative section to the plant in Thoothukudi has to be provided to Vedanta, by the government.
“If there is non-compliance, the applicant is at liberty to take its remedies or to point out before the committee,” the bench said. Earlier, on August 20, the NGT constituted a committee stating that a “credible mechanism” had to be taken for a “balanced view.” The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) was directed to provide logistical support to the committee.