During the COVID-19 crisis, the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu government to explain its position on whether it is able to take over Vedanta Ltd.'s sterlite plant, which was shut down for violating environmental laws, to produce medical oxygen.
The State Government has been given until Monday (April 26, 2021) to file its affidavit in the case, according to a bench led by CJI SA Bobde. The State Government's opposition to reopening the plant, citing the law and order situation, was not acknowledged by the Bench. "Tamil Nadu cannot claim whether you cannot open because of a law and order problem while people are dying. It has nothing to do with Vedanta or some other company. Such a point cannot be made by the state government "The CJI made a remark.
Vedanta's appeal was rejected by Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan, who was representing the Tamil Nadu government. People have grudges against Vedanta, he asserted. "There is a complete lack of trust among the locals. There was a shooting that resulted in the deaths of 13 people. If Vedanta opens the plant, there will be law and order problems. It would be tough for the district administration to deal with "He agreed to it.
Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for organization of affected families, also submitted that people have a lot of anger against the plant. Gonsalves also referred to the submission made by Tamil Nadu Advocate General before Madras High Court that the state had surplus oxygen. So, there was no need to re-open the pant, he said.
"It is not just about Tamil Nadu. The whole country needs it", CJI replied. "The country is in dire need of oxygen. Different states need it. For example, Orissa can come to Rajasthan for oxygen. Law and order issues cannot be an excuse. Why should not we use the capacity when every MT of oxygen matters?" The Solicitor General, on the other hand, called for the plant's reopening to address the current medical oxygen crisis.
During the hearing, the Tamil Nadu government even hinted that the plant might be taken over by the central government. "Even the Central Government has the authority to take over the NDMA," Vaidyanathan told the Court. The CJI, on the other hand, chastised the State for changing the blame and ordered them to file a response taking a strong stance.
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by Vedanta, which said that it needed to voluntarily provide medical oxygen to the country in order to aid the country's medical oxygen shortage. Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Vedanta, told the Court that if permission is granted, the company will be able to help in saving lives by supplying free oxygen.
The Supreme Court (bench headed by Justice RF Nariman) had dismissed Vedanta's interim appeal for permission to reopen the programme in December of last year. In January of this year, the company filed a second application for the same demand, which was also denied by the Supreme Court. The company had appealed to the apex Court and Madras High Court ruling from August 2020, which rejected Vedanta's writ petition to reopen its copper smelter and upheld the state government's decision to close it.
