MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court closed a petition filed by the Vedanta Group, seeking power restoration and manpower access to remove hazardous material from its copper smelter Sterlite in Thoothukudi, which had been shutdown by the government for flouting rules. A bench of justices, who heard the case on Monday, recalled that already a high-power committee, through inspection, has ensured whether or not there is any immediate need of electricity supply.
If the committee had any reason to believe so, the same would have been informed by it to the government, which would also have taken an appropriate decision immediately. As the committee has not mentioned any such emergencies in its report, it is clear that there is no need for restoring power supply to the plant, said the judges.
The judges also recorded the submissions of Additional Advocate General (AAG) Chellapandian, giving an undertaking that the authorities have already started taking steps to evacuate the leaked chemical from the unit based on the detailed report submitted by the high-power committee to the government. Observing that there is no need to pass further orders on the petition, the judges closed the petition. Earlier, the counsel, who represented Sterlite’s parent company Vedanta Group, requested Court to direct government to provide them a copy of the report filed by the high-power committee. No direction was given in this regard.