SC to Hear Vedanta Group’s Sterlite Copper Unit Shutdown Plea on Nov 29

The Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing of the Vedanta group’s petition regarding the shutdown of its Sterlite copper unit in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, for November 29. An update on the apex court’s website confirms that the plea from the Vedanta group company will be deliberated on November 29.

On October 9, a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud assured the company’s legal counsel that it had directed the registrar to allocate “two dedicated dates” for the Vedanta group’s plea. The Chief Justice had stated, “I am well aware of the situation. I have already directed the registrar to allocate two dedicated dates (for hearing).”

In May, the Supreme Court had asked the Tamil Nadu government to make appropriate decisions following its April 10 directive, which had permitted the Vedanta group to maintain its Sterlite copper unit in Tuticorin under the supervision of a local-level monitoring committee. The top court’s April 10 order also authorized the evacuation of the remaining gypsum at the plant and provided the necessary workforce as requested by the company.

The court had observed that certain activities, such as conducting a civil and structural safety integrity assessment study on the plant premises, removing and transporting spare parts and equipment, and evacuating idle in-process reverts and raw materials, were not recommended by the district collector. The court had noted, “As regards the actions which were not recommended by the district collector, C S Vaidyanathan, senior counsel appearing on behalf of the state of Tamil Nadu, states that the state government will once again evaluate whether any further or supplementary directions should be issued in that regard.”

During a previous hearing, the counsel for Tamil Nadu had reported that steps had already been taken to implement the directions contained in one of the paragraphs of the April 10 order, which allowed necessary consequential measures to be taken. The bench had directed, “We direct that all decisions, which are required to be taken in pursuance of the observations contained in paragraphs four and five of the order dated April 10, 2023, shall be taken by the state of Tamil Nadu on or before June 1, 2023.” The apex court had then scheduled the plea for final disposition on August 22 and 23.

The incident in question occurred on May 22, 2018, when police fired on a large crowd protesting against environmental pollution allegedly caused by the copper-smelting unit, resulting in at least 13 fatalities and numerous injuries. In response to pollution concerns and violent protests, the Tamil Nadu government had, on May 28, 2018, instructed the state pollution control board to seal and “permanently” close the mining group’s plant.