Madras High Court to pronounce verdict in Sterlite case on August 18

Sterlite Copper was shut by the Tamil Nadu government on May 27, 2018, following protests by locals that ended in police firing killing 13 innocent civilians

The Madras High Court will on Tuesday pronounce its much-awaited verdict in the appeal filed by Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to shut down its copper smelter in Thoothukudi.

The division bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan will pronounce the judgement at 10.30 am, seven months after reserving the orders in the case. Hours before the verdict, Thoothukudi city resembled a virtual fortress with policemen dotting the city, as a precautionary measure.

Sterlite Copper moved a petition before the High Court in February 2019 challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to close down the massive copper-smelting unit in Thoothukudi, 610 km from here. The petition was taken up for hearing in July 2019 and the verdict was reserved by the bench of Justices Sivagnanam and Subbaroyan on January 8, 2020.

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The company moved the High Court here a fortnight after the Supreme Court struck down the order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) allowing reopening of the plant on grounds of maintainability. The apex court, however, gave the liberty to Sterlite Copper to approach the Madras High Court.

Sterlite Copper was shut by the Tamil Nadu government on May 27, 2018, following protests against expansion of the plant by locals that ended in police firing killing 13 civilians. The representatives from the anti-Sterlite movement and residents of Thoothukudi also placed their point of view before the court.

While the Tamil Nadu government opposed reopening of the plant accusing the company of polluting the area, the Vedanta-owned company vehemently denied the accusations and maintained that the plant was shut down only to cool down the tempers after the anti-Sterlite protests ended in the police firing. The company also maintained that it followed best practices as mandated by the law.

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Both sides fielded senior lawyers to argue their case. While the government side was represented by Advocate General Vijay Narayan and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) by senior counsel C S Vaidyanathan, senior counsel C Aryama Sundaram, G Masilamani, P S Raman and A R L Sundaresan appeared for Sterlite Copper.

After the Tamil Nadu government closed down the plant, Sterlite Copper moved the NGT which struck down the order in December 2018 and declared its reopening.

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Following the NGT verdict, the Tamil Nadu government challenged the NGT decision in Supreme Court in January 2019, which said that the green tribunal did not have the jurisdiction to allow the opening of the plant. However, the apex court said Sterlite Copper had the liberty to approach the Madras High Court following which the company filed a petition.

The company maintained that the Supreme Court struck down the NGT order solely on the grounds of maintainability. Besides, shutting down of Sterlite Copper also led to severe shortage of copper in India, forcing the country to import the commodity in large quantities since May 2018.