Supreme Court Upholds Closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Plant in Tamil Nadu

A Bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, refused to interfere with the 2020 decision of the Madras High Court upholding closure of the plant for environmental violations.

Noting the repeated nature of breaches coupled with severity of violations by the plant, the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said that the health and welfare of the local people is of utmost concern.

The Tamil Nadu government had ordered the copper smelter plant to be shut down in 2018 following a violent protest that led to the death of several persons in police firing. At least 13 people were killed and many injured in the police firing on people protesting against the Sterlite copper plant on May 22, 2018.

The plant was made operational during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic to produce oxygen.

In November last year, a group of villagers from the vicinity of the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu staged a protest in Delhi demanding that stakeholders and decision-makers reopen the plant.

The villagers staged a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the immediate reopening of the plant to safeguard livelihoods and restore economic uplift of the region.

They contended that the plant was a crucial source of employment and economic sustenance in the region and its closure in 2018, prompted by protests alleging environmental violations, had a profound and adverse effect on the livelihoods of the local communities. - IANS