Vedanta: smelter shut for ‘political reasons'

NEW DELHI: Vedanta Ltd. told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that its copper plant in Tuticorin had been shut down for political reasons that were completely extraneous and mala fide.

The company denied claims by the Tamil Nadu government that the smelter had emitted widespread air and water pollution, insisting that the plant was located in an industrial zone and all hazardous emissions could not be attributed to it.

“It is a political decision taken for extraneous or mala fide reasons,” senior advocate CA Sundaram said. He was assisted in the case by lawyer Rohini Musa.


Sundaram said the plant had carried out all measures suggested by the Central Pollution Control Board and the state pollution control board from time to time.

Shutting down the plant resulted in India, which was a copper-exporting country, now importing copper, he said. He claimed the smelter accounted for 38% of the copper produced in India.

Sundaram alleged the state government had singled out its unit Sterlite Copper, the operator of the plant, for pollution even though others operated in the industrial area, pending consent.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the state pollution control board had also time and again approved all its expansion plans, he contended.

He said medical records from the nearest hospitals showed there were no cases of suffocation and respiratory distress, as claimed on March 23, 2018, which formed the basis of the shutdown.

The state shut the 400,000 metric tonne per annum plant on May 28, 2018, in the after of violent protests over pollution in the area. Sterlite then approached the National Green Tribunal, which ordered that the plant be allowed to open, prompting the state to appeal in the top court.

An SC bench comprising Justices RF Nariman and Navin Sinha is hearing the appeal. The state argued that the NGT “erroneously” set aside various TNPCB orders.

“The final impugned judgment dated December 15, 2018, is liable to be set aside… as the Tribunal failed to consider the data, document and evidence furnished by TNPCB to prove that Vedanta… had irreversibly polluted the ground water in and around Thoothukudi district,” it said.

The NGT, while ordering re-opening of the plant, had asked the TNPCB to pass a fresh order of renewal of consent to operate and authorisation to handle hazardous substances, subject to appropriate conditions for protection of the environment, within three weeks.