Thread by @dhanyarajendran

Points from #SterliteCase judgment. 'As per GoI-National Clean Air Programme, in a list of most polluted cities in the country, Thoothukudi is the only District which finds place in from TN. Sterlite argument that Thoothukudi is safer than Chennai is rejected as unsubstantiated.'

The judgment mentions an alumna refinery project in Odisha that Sterlite wanted to start and how they 'lied' that there was no forest nearby and it was found otherwise. 'We have referred to this decision to note the conduct of the
petitioner in proceeding without clearances'

The court says it was necessary to look at how Vedanta and Sterlite treated the atmosphere and what they did in other states, to understand their credibility. It goes into some detail about cases against the company in other states.

'The petitioner has not been able to establish that the closure order was malafide or on account the extraneous consideration or political consideration or a colourable exercise of power'. Sterlite had alleged that the TN govt and TNPCB had malafide intentions

The court said, "Therefore, if according to the petitioner the order of closure is for political consideration, then it goes without saying that the order granting permission to establish the Unit twenty years ago is also for
political considerations."

The judgment talks about an impleading petition by a shareholder who was concerned about her shares falling. The court says it is evident she was set up by the company to implead. 'This averment is sufficient to doubt the bona fides of the petitioner'.

Stack height- "We uphold the objections raised by TNPCB and hold that the petitioner's plant does not have the adequate stack height calculated based on the norms fixed by MoEF/CPCB. Consequently, it has to be held to be a violation."

As far as Sterlite's argument that the closure was a knee jerk reaction to the shooting- court said- "It cannot
be treated as knee-jerk reaction pursuant to the unfortunate shooting incident, but it is a culmination of various issues solely attributable to the petitioner".

The judgment says that Sterlite did not take
adequate precaution while transporting the copper concentrate from the port premises to their factory for a distance of about 18 kms. And a photo they provided of their truck isn't good enough.

There is more. It is 815 pages! Will update