Sterlite case: Madras high court dismisses Vedanta’s pleas challenging closure of its Tuticorin plant

CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Tuesday dismissed Vedanta’s pleas challenging the closure of its Sterlite Copper smelter plant in Tuticorin. The court refused to allow reopening of the plant.
A special bench of Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan passed the order in the highly contentious case, which had been heard continuously for 42 days before the court reserved its order on January 8.
On February 27, 2019, Vedanta approached the HC seeking to reopen Sterlite, which was closed in view of an order passed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) dated May 23, 2018.
Vedanta moved the pleas as suggested by the Supreme Court. An interim relief sought by Vedanta to permit access to the 200-acre factory premises to carry out maintenance work was rejected by the court based on the assurance provided by the Tamil Nadu government that it would take responsibility of the premises.
The state government and the TNPCB, represented by the advocate-general Vijay Narayan and senior counsel C S Vaidyanathan, opposed the pleas terming Sterlite a ‘chronic’ defaulter and that ‘unrestrained pollution appears to be standard modus operandi of the company, as it has been found guilty of various violations globally.’
Vedanta’s senior counsels Aryama Sundaram and P S Raman countered the arguments by contending that the closure order issued by the state was nothing but ‘naked discrimination’ against the company and that the GO was only a knee-jerk reaction of the state to ‘appease’ a section of public with vested interest after 13 protesters were killed in a police firing.
It also alleged a Chinese company was behind its closure and claimed that the company, which had financial interest in copper manufacturing, was funding protesters to agitate against Sterlite.
Citing TNPCB pollution statistics, Vedanta said a person living inside Sterlite was safer than a person living in Anna Nagar, Chennai.
Opposing the submissions, impleaders in the pleas MDMK leader Vaiko, professor Fathima and Makkal Adhikaram (an NGO) explained to the court as to how the environment in Tuticorin has improved after the closure of the plant.