NE LEGAL BUREAU
CHENNAI, JAN 9
The highly contentious Sterlite case is waiting for judgment as the Madras High Court has concluded its 39-day marathon hearing and reserved its order on the plea moved by Vedanta, challenging closure of its copper smelter plant in Tuticorin.
Concluding the hearing, a special bench of Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice V. Bhavani Subbaroyan complimented the senior counsels and other advocates for maintaining a cordial atmosphere throughout the hearings. The bench said it would try to deliver the order as expeditiously as possible.
On February 27, 2019, Vedanta approached 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 plea 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 state that it would take responsibility of the premises.
The state government and TNPCB represented by the advocate-general Vijay Narayan and senior counsel C. S. Vaidyanathan opposed the plea 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 is safer than a person living in Anna Nagar, Chennai.
Opposing the submissions, impleaders in the plea professor Fathima and Makkal Adhigaram explained to the court as to how the environment in Tuticorin has improved after the closure of the plant.
