#sterlite protests

Rajinikanth Summoned Over Comment On 2018 Anti-Sterlite Protests

Superstar Rajinikanth has been summoned to help with the investigation into the 2018 violence at the Sterlite factory in Tuticorin — officially called Thoothukudi — over a remark that was seen to justify police action against protesters. Thirteen people had died as protesters demanding permanent closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite copper smelting plant, had clashed with the police. The one-woman…

Tamil Nadu needs to fix its human rights response

Sources said that with local tensions running high over the deaths of the protesters, the resources company was holding off for now from filing a legal challenge.

Latest News India : Vedanta Resources is working on a legal challenge to the Tamil Nadu government’s closure of one of its copper smelters, but it will not proceed until tensions over the deaths of 13 people during protests last week have eased, two sources told Reuters.

The Tamil Nadu government ordered the permanent closure of the smelter on Monday after police fired on protesters demanding its closure on environmental grounds.

London-listed Vedanta, majority owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, considers it is now left with no other option than to file a writ petition challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision in the Madras High Court or the Supreme Court in New Delhi, the two sources close to the company said.

“They have not presented a single (piece of) evidence against the company,” said one of the sources, both of whom declined to be named. “Vedanta is confident that it has a strong case legally. It has not violated any law.”

However, the sources said that with local tensions running high over the deaths of the protesters, the resources company was holding off for now from filing the legal challenge.

A Vedanta spokesman did not respond to requests seeking comment. The company earlier said it had broken no rules, and hoped soon to reopen the plant and double its capacity to 800,000 tonnes a year at a cost of more than $700 million.

The chief of Vedanta’s India copper business, P Ramnath, told Reuters on Friday the company would legally fight any attempt to close the plant.

D. Jayakumar, a senior Tamil Nadu minister, said the smelter was closed mainly in response to the demands of residents of the coastal city of Thoothukudi, and that the state government would defend itself in court.

“We’ve closed the plant based on various violations raised by the pollution control board. They will of course say that they have not violated any rule,” Jayakumar, who speaks for the state government, told Reuters.

“People are totally against the plant. We’re with the people only. We go by their demand and the law.”

He declined to give details of the violations.

Vedanta tanks to 11-month low

Delhi High Court today will likely hear a Tamil Nadu-based advocate’s petition pleading NHRC to visit Thoothukudi district and conduct an inquiry into the anti-Sterlite protest on its own.

Sterlite Protest : At least 13 people had died and 102 others were reported injured by Thursday in the anti-Sterlite protests in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi as the death toll kept increasing. Further, vehicles worth Rs 10.27 million were damaged and burnt down during the protests.

“A total of 13 people have died, including 11 men and 2 women. 102 people have been injured out of which 19 are severe cases. Vehicles worth Rs 1 crore 27 lakh have been burnt down,” said Shailesh Kumar, IG (South Range), while talking to news agencies.

At least 67 people have been arrested until now for indulging in violence and damage to public property.

Meanwhile, Vedanta Resources’ chairman on Thursday expressed sorrow over the deaths during the protests and said that the company wants to continue with the business and is committed to the community and people of Thoothukudi.

Here are the top developments around the Thoothukudi protests over the Sterlite expansion issue:

In pain over anti-Sterlite protest, says Vedanta chairman:

Vedanta Resources Plc Chairman Anil Agarwal has expressed his sorrow over the anti-Sterlite protests in which 13 people have died. He said that he was in pain over the ongoing protest in Thoothukudi.

“I am very sad to hear the incident. This was absolutely unfortunate, my full sympathy with the family. The plant is closed because of an annual shutdown and we are waiting for clearance from the court and the government to re-start the plant,” Agarwal said.

Will take legal steps to close factory, says Tamil Nadu CM:

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday said it was taking steps to close down the Sterlite factory at Thoothukudi after 13 people died when the police opened fire on protesters who were demanding the factory’s closure.

“Amma’s (former CM J Jayalalithaa) government is taking the legal route to ensure that Sterlite is shut down,” said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

PIL in SC seeking CBI probe into Tuticorin violence:

Advocate G S Mani on Thursday filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the deaths of protesters during the anti-Sterlite rally at Thoothukudi. The petition also sought a registration of an FIR against Thoothukudi collector, superintendent of police and other police officials.

NDA government’s decisions helped Vedanta bypass public consultations for the Copper smelter expansion in Thoothukudi.

Sterlite Protest : The controversial expansion of Vedanta’s 1,200 tonnes per day copper smelter in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu has been stayed by the High Court on May 23 after at least 11 people protesting against the plant were shot dead by state police. The court has ordered that the company consult people before building the plant – something the company claimed it was legally not required to do.

Vedanta claims it had legally got an environmental clearance from the Union government to expand the smelter to double the capacity without consulting people. A perusal of Union environment ministry’s and several court records show the NDA government made an interpretation to green regulations in December 2014, which helped particularly plants such as that of Vedanta’s at Thoothukudi to be built without consulting people of the project-affected area.

This exception in the environmental safety regulations was made on the request of various industries, show court and government documents reviewed by Business Standard. The exception to the rules was carved out through orders of the then environment minister and called a ‘clarification’. This clarification would in months ahead allow Vedanta and several others to start constructing their plants, such as the one in Thoothukudi, without public consultations. This interpretation by the NDA government was fortuitous for companies because the environment ministry under UPA government had insisted in May 2014 that projects such as Vedanta’s in Thoothukudi were required by law to first go through public consultations.

In 2016 the National Green Tribunal found, the December orders of the NDA government, which favored Vedanta, to be illegal. It had to go to the point of threatening bailable orders against the environment ministry officials in the case to divulge information on the matter. Ministry officials said rescinding the government’s December 2014 orders would adversely impact many projects.

Eventually, the NGT quashed the December 2014 orders. On the NGT’s instructions, the ministry had to pass fresh orders clearly stating that projects in industrial parks without environmental clearances needed to conduct public hearings. But, by then Vedanta had secured an extension of the green clearance to its expansion project in Thoothukudi without the need for a public hearing.

It is citing this 2016 ruling of the National Green Tribunal and other facts that came to light during the case, that the High Court on Wednesday has ordered Vedanta to stop its expansion plans in track and go back to first consult the people.

Police firing kills one, on second day of violence: Against Sterlite protests

Tamil Nadu, May 23 In spite of the huge reaction against the use of force against protesters in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin on Tuesday, forces once again resorted to firing live rounds – killing one and injuring two on Wednesday afternoon.

Requesting conclusion of a copper plant of Sterlite Industries, a three-month-long challenge achieved the tipping point on Tuesday when a group of 5000 clashed with…

Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu: Fresh clashes erupted in Thoothukudi, also known as Tuticorin, on Wednesday between the police and protestors gathered outside General Hospital, where the injured were being treated. The Sterlite protest set a bus ablaze after which forces were deployed outside the hospital.

Earlier in the day, The Madras High Court's Madurai Bench stayed the ongoing construction of a new copper smelter at Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin plant.

A day before, as many as 11 people had been killed and 20 others injured in Tuticorin, as a protest against Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit -- going on for 100 days since the company announced its plans to invest Rs 25 billion in doubling the capacity of its existing facility to 800,000 tonnes per annum -- turned violent. The protesters claimed the plant had been causing harm to its employees and increasing the capacity of the plant would aggravate the problems.