CHENNAI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) appointed Sterlite committee headed by Justice (retd) Tarun Agrawal, former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court and former Judge of Allahabad High Court, will commence its work from September 22.
The matter has come up for hearing on Tuesday before the principal bench of NGT and the tribunal chairman AK Goel said the committee will start the work from September 22. "Tarun Agrawal was unwell and so there was little delay," Goel said.
Meanwhile, a miscellaneous application moved by Thoothukudi resident and Anti-Sterlite People's Movement convenor Fatima was dismissed by NGT. In her petition, Fatima demanded for reconstitution of the NGT Committee as the committee's chairperson Tarun Agarwal's name is tainted by allegations of involvement in the Ghaziabad PF scam as a beneficiary.
Originally, Justice AK Goel had orally suggested the names of Justice (Retd) KP Sivasubramaniam and Justice (Retd) Chandru (both of Madras High Court). However, Vedanta opposed these and any names from Tamil Nadu citing bias. Fatima's application also argued that the issue of maintainability -- i.e. whether the NGT is empowered to challenge the Tamil Nadu Government's order -- has to be settled first.