Madras HC rejects Vedanta’s plea to reopen Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin
BENGALURU: The Madras high court on Tuesday rejected Vedanta Resources Plc’s petition to challenge the March 2018 closure order by the Tamil Nadu government of Sterlite Copper smelter plant in Tuticorin, about 610 km from Chennai, in March 2018.
The order comes as a major setback for the London-based conglomerate that had approached the HC in February last year after the Supreme Court rejected a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order allowing the plant to resume operations.
The order comes seven months after the HC reserved its judgement in the controversial case.
The Madras High Court had ordered the closure of Sterlite Copper smelter in Tuticorin on 28 March, 2018 after at least 11 people were killed and over 50 others were injured in police firing to disperse the three-month-long protest against the copper smelter plant. The death toll went up to 13 subsequently as more people succumbed to bullet wounds and other injuries that sparked off angry reactions from across the country.
