Senior lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for Vedanta, said the environmental clearance was granted in 2007 and that clearance was never ever challenged.He suggested to the apex court that the SC should consider setting up an expert committee, comprising of TNPCB, MoEF, NEERI, Vedanta and other officials. A retired judge from the Supreme Court can head the committee, which could submit a report within a month on whether Vedanta can resume operations at the copper smelter plant along with additional environmental safeguards.The Supreme Court had in its last hearing on February 14 suggested to the parties to consider whether a committee of experts can be constituted to inspect Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi and reopen it with stringent conditions in place. It is to be noted that the closure order was passed immediately after the plant had turned into a protest site with citizens opposing its expansion. The order was supported by the state government. The protest took a violent turn after several days, when police opened fire on the protesters, leading to the deaths of several people.The SC’s proposal of a special committee to prescribe safeguards to resume operations at the plant was opposed by the TN govt, citing repeated violations by Vedanta.
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