The Vedanta Group whose Sterlite Copper smelting plant has been shut down since May 28, 2018 on Thursday told the Supreme Court that they were being harassed and their image being besmirched by the Tamil Nadu government.

Vedanta Group's Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi

Chennai:

Telling the bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Navin Sinha that the State government has given it a bad name, Vedanta said that the pollution report that was shown to the court was six months after the plant was put under lock.

Describing the action against the plant as "political", senior counsel CA Sundaram appearing for Vedanta, said that the State government overlooked the plea for daily maintenance to plug the sulphuric acid leaks.

Earlier, Vedanta had said that unless electricity to the plant was restored, it would not be able to comply with the conditions imposed by the National Green Tribunal in its December 15, 2018 judgment.

Senior counsel Guru Krishnakumar appearing for Tamil Nadu said that the plant management resorted to quick fixes when the environmental violations were pointed out to them.

The NGT had on December 15 directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to pass a fresh order allowing renewal of consent for the operation of the plant within three weeks.