MADURAI: The Legal Advisor of the Anti-Sterlite movement, S Vanchinathan, appealed to Chief Minister MK Stalin to exercise power to permanently shut down the copper smelter Sterlite in Thoothukudi. In a statement on Thursday, Advocate Vanchinathan alleged that the industry destroyed human lives and the environment.
“The State government is empowered to order the removal of Sterlite permanently under the Section 133 of CrPC,” he pointed out. Citing the CM’s election promise of not allowing it to reopen, Vanchinathan urged him to announce the permanent removal of the industry on May 22, the third death anniversary of the 15 people, who died in the police firing during Thoothukudi Anti-Sterlite protest in 2018.
Apart from this, Vanchinathan also wanted the government to release Justice Aruna Jagadeesan’s report on the firing. He demanded the government to withdraw the cases registered against Anti-Sterlite protestors.