CHENNAI: A day after former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice SJ Vazifdar recused himself from heading the Sterlite panel, on Thursday the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was on the lookout for an alternative ‘credible’ name and exploring the possibility of appointing an ex-judge of Tamil origin.
The tribunal is likely to reveal the name of the new chief for the Sterlite panel on Friday along with other two members from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Heated arguments were witnessed at the urgent hearing on Thursday with NGT chairman AK Goel rejecting all three names proposed by Sterlite counsel C Aryama Sundaram. The names included those of former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Mohit Shah and former Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar Ahluwalia. But Goel opined that it would be better to appoint a person having a background knowledge of the case.
The Sterlite counsel insisted on having an outside judge as panel chief for fair proceedings. This was strongly opposed by Goel, stating that the NGT would ensure fair investigation and Sterlite should not worry. Also, Goel, in the open court, said many judges were not willing to head the Sterlite panel. Sources said Vazifdar was appointed without having been consulted.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, after initially accepting the NGT’s decision to constitute a committee to decide the plea of Vedanta Limited challenging the government’s closure of its Sterlite copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi, has decided to challenge it in the Supreme Court. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon after the NGT hearing. In the petition, Tamil Nadu once again raised the question of maintainability of Vedanta’s plea before the NGT, besides challenging the formation of the committee.
On May 28, Tamil Nadu government ordered the pollution control board to seal and ‘permanently’ close the mining group’s copper plant following violent protests over pollution concerns. At least 13 people were killed and several injured on May 22 when police opened fire on people protesting against pollution being allegedly caused by the plant.