Supreme Court quashes NGT order on Sterlite reopening

New Delhi: In a huge setback to Sterlite Industries on Monday, the Supreme Court set aside orders passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directing the Tamil Nadu government to re-open the Thoothukudi plant, which has been permanently closed since May 28, 2018.

A bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Vineet Saran agreed with the contention of the Tamil Nadu government that the NGT had no jurisdiction to adjudicate the issue and pass orders for the re-opening of the plant.

The bench held that so far as the closure order of May 2018 is concerned, this is expressly stated to be made under Section 18 of the Water Act. There is no doubt whatsoever that such an order is not appealable to the NGT either under the Water Act or under the NGT Act.

Justice Nariman, who authored the judgment, said it is clear that no appeal has been provided against orders made under Section 18 of the Water Act and the attempt to bring in the NGT through the backdoor, as it were, would therefore have to be rejected.

The bench also pointed out that the TNPCB passed an order on April 9, 2018, rejecting Sterlite’s application seeking consent to operate the plant. This order rejected renewal of consent to operate, and therefore, is traceable to Section 27 of the Water Act and Section 21 of the Air Act.

The bench made it clear that the appeals could not be heard since the state government had passed an order directing the TNPCB to close down the plant permanently.

What becomes clear from the narration of facts is that while an appeal was still pending before the appellate authority, the NGT took up a matter directly against the original order of April, 2018, which was challenged before the appellate authority even before the appellate authority could decide the same. This being the case, the NGT’s order being clearly outside its statutory powers conferred by the Water Act, the Air Act, and the NGT Act, would be an order passed without jurisdiction. Meanwhile, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna expunged certain portions of the Madras high court judgment ordering a CBI probe into the deaths of 13 persons in the firing at Thoothukudi on May 22, 2018.

The high court directed the CBI to register cases against the authorities for offences under IPC Section 302 (murder) as also for other offences under the IPC and Arms Act and such other acts as may be attracted.

It said CBI should register case(s) on the complaints received against official/police in respect of occurrences at Thootukudi in May, 2018, and cause investigation thereon. The CBI shall also cause investigation on the aspects indicated.

Further, the court said the CBI should not be restricted to consider only those issues that have been highlighted herein above. In other words, it will be the duty of the CBI to get to the bottom of things and file such charge sheet(s) as investigation reveals and necessitates.

Aggrieved against the blanket directions given to the CBI, the Tamil Nadu government moved the apex court.