State opposes Sterlite’s plea seeking panel to inspect plant

A division bench comprising Justices M Sathyanarayanan and M Nirmal Kumar, on hearing submissions by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) that the existing committee appointed by the State government would be suffice to undertake the inspection in the presence of the company officials, adjourned the case to June 11 for further hearing.

While Senior Counsel C Aryama Sundaram contended that the high-power committee appointed by the State had very limited role to play and its term had expired, Senior Counsel CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for TNPCB, submitted that the committee was a permanent one. In the absence of any specific allegations about its neutrality, the court cannot set up another panel, he said.

Similarly, on citing that as many as 40 impleading petitions had been moved, Sundaram sought the court not to entertain such impleading pleas, which merely supported the closure.

But the bench on referring to the likely change in judges’ roster in the coming days, said the bench concerned would have the option to take up such issue as well as take up the matter for final disposal and hence didn’t want to intervene now. However, the bench noted that a detailed hearing must be given even on the impleading pleas as the company has opposed the petitions.

MDMK leader Vaiko, who had also moved an impleading petition seeking to sustain the closure, submitted that he had been opposing the functioning of the Sterlite factory from the beginning and therefore he was a proper and necessary party to be impleaded.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions by Sterlite, a Vedanta group firm, seeking to quash the May 23, 2018 order of TNPCB refusing renewal consent to the plant and directing permanent closure. Besides, the company has also made an interim prayer for permission to take up maintenance work.

The state government ordered closure of Sterlite’s copper unit in the backdrop of protests by the locals against it turning violent. This had resulted in the death of 13 people in police firing on May 22, 2018.