Tamil Nadu Opposes Supreme Court's Panel Proposal For Vedanta Copper Plant Revival

The Tamil Nadu government has expressed strong reservations against setting up an expert panel to look at the revival of Vedanta Ltd.'s Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi.

During last week's hearing, the Supreme Court proposed setting up an expert panel to look into the plant's viability.

Vedanta had then reiterated this proposal as a suggestion to tackle the issue of the plant's revival.

Arguing for the state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan remarked that the Madras High Court, while denying Vedanta the right to operate its plant, has extensively dealt with all the issues that the court is proposing to refer to an expert committee.

"An expert panel cannot sit in judgement over a ruling of the High Court," Vaidyanathan said. This will put at stake the institutional credibility of the high court, he said.

It was also argued that groundwater samples from within and around the plant have been tested, and all of them show the presence of pollutants. Therefore, their argument that the plant is a state-of-the-art facility and is non-polluting is not tenable, Vaidyanathan said.

This plant has been marred by court proceedings ever since it came into being, and committee after committee has found Vedanta to be in violation of pollution norms, the advocate said.

Committees constituted by courts have either recommended closures or measures that they should have taken in order to sustain the plant, which Vedanta has not been able to achieve, Vaidyanathan said.

It was argued that Vedanta had been a repeat offender and made consistent misrepresentations before various committees.

The hearing in the matter is still underway, and the arguments will continue on Feb. 29.

At its apex capacity, the Sterlite Copper plant accounted for nearly half of India's copper output.

In 2018, the plant was shut down following the Tamil Nadu government's order to seal and permanently close it after 13 people were killed in police firing during a protest against the unit.

The step prompted Vedanta to approach the National Green Tribunal, which allowed it to reopen the copper plant. The tribunal set aside the Tamil Nadu government's order to shut down the plant, saying that it was "unsustainable."

The tribunal’s order was struck down by the Supreme Court on an appeal by the state government. The top court, however, allowed Vedanta to approach the Madras High Court to restart the plant.

However, even the Madras High Court rejected Vedanta's plea to restart operations. The mining giant is up in appeal before the top court against this ruling of the high court.