SC junks Vedanta’s review plea against plant closure

The Supreme Court has dismissed a review plea filed by Vedanta group against the closure of its copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi. The top court had on February 29 dismissed Vedanta’s plea for reopening of its copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi, closed since May 2018 over pollution concerns, while underlining the importance of health and welfare of the local residents.

The plant has been closed since May 2018 after 13 persons were killed as police opened fire to quell a protest over alleged pollution caused by it.

A Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud (now retired) and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also rejected Vedanta’s application for listing the review petition in open court.

“Having perused the review petitions, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013, has been established. The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed,” the Bench said in its October 22 order.