Supreme Court dismisses Vedanta’s review plea against judgment on closure of copper plant in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a review plea by Vedanta Limited against the February 29, 2024 judgment which upheld the closure of its copper smelting plant in 2018 in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi over alleged violation of environmental norms.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (since retired) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra found no error apparent on the face of record to undertake review of the judgment.

In its October 22 order, the court also rejected the application for open court hearing.

It is to be noted review petition is considered by judges in chamber by circulation of documents as per the Supreme Court's Rules.

In its February judgement, the bench had said the health and welfare of the residents of the area is a matter of utmost concern and in the ultimate analysis, the state government is responsible for it.

The court said the closure of industry undoubtedly not a matter of first choice.

However, the repeated nature of breaches, coupled with the severity of the violations would in this analysis have left neither the statutory authorities nor the high court to take any other view unless they were to be oblivious of their duty, the court said.

The court had then also dismissed the appeals filed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board questioning the observations made by the Madras High Court against it.

In 2018, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) ordered the closure of the controversial Sterlite Plant after massive protests by locals, social and environmental activists who alleged that the facility was causing widespread and severe pollution, leading to the spread of serious diseases among locals. The decision of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board was later upheld by the Madras High Court in August 2020.