Supreme Court Upholds Closure of Sterlite Copper Plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi

The Supreme Court dismissed Vedanta group’s plea against the closure of Sterlite Copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court’s 2020 decision to uphold the closure was not interfered with by a Bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud.

The bench, including Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized the importance of the health and welfare of local residents. The plant’s repeated environmental violations and severity of breaches were noted, leading to the closure order.

The Tamil Nadu government had shut down the copper smelter plant in 2018 after a violent protest resulted in multiple deaths due to police firing. The plant was briefly operational during the Covid-19 pandemic to produce oxygen, but the closure order stands in place.