"SC refuses to stay NGT order to reopen Sterlite’s plant in Tamil Nadu", 8 January 2019

The Supreme Court on Tuesday [8 January] refused to stay an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that had paved way for reopening of Vedanta’s Sterlite Industries Ltd’s copper smelter plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi...

The plea [brought by the State of Tamil Nadu]...sought that the NGT order be set aside as it was “erroneous” and passed without application of mind towards the evidence furnished by the Tamil Nadu government to show that Vedanta had polluted the ground water...

On 15 December, the environment tribunal ordered the reopening of Vedanta's copper smelter plan, months after the smelter was shut by the Tamil Nadu government over alleged pollution, which led to violent protests and culminated in police opening fire on demonstrators and killing 13...

While ordering the closure of the Sterlite unit, the Tamil Nadu government had stated that it endorsed the closure direction of the [Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board]TNPCB, and also directed the board to seal the unit and close the plant permanently under...the Water Act, 1974, “in the larger public interest.”