The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed forming a “non-partisan” committee to objectively evaluate environmental concerns and to suggest additional conditions, if any, for re-opening Vedanta Sterlite’s copper plant at Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu.
The copper smelting plant was permanently shut down on the orders of the Tamil Nadu government six years ago on grounds of pollution. The 2018 closure of the plant was preceded by nearly 30 years of local protests, which had even led to an incident of police firing.
“We have to find a way forward... We have to reach a win-win solution by which the concerns of the State as a custodian of the health of the people will be protected, your [Vedanta] concern as an investor is protected and our concern that this is not a facility lost to the nation is taken care of,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, heading a three-judge Bench, observed during a day-long hearing.
