New bench in Madras High Court to hear Sterlite plant plea

After Justice KK Sasidharan recused himself from hearing Vedanta’s plea, on Tuesday (June 11), seeking nod to re-open the Sterlite Copper plant, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court appointed Justices TS Sivagnanam and Bhavani Subbarayan to hear the case.

Last year, following the police firing, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) ordered the Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi to shut down, for allegedly violating several environmental laws.Challenging the direction, the company moved the Madras HC.

The plea came up for hearing before the bench of Justices Sasidharan and PT Asha.However, Sasidharan recused himself on the ground that he ordered an interim stay in a related case, while he was at the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC, along with Justice PD Audikesavalu, last year.