On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India accepted the Vedanta group's plea regarding the shutdown of its Sterlite copper unit in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, signaling a willingness to hear the case.

The bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged the urgency expressed by senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the Vedanta group, to expedite the proceedings. Divan requested an early hearing, and the Chief Justice assured that the counsel for both parties would be informed about the schedule after checking for any constitution bench matters on January 22.

Previously, the Supreme Court had allocated "two dedicated dates" for the hearing, emphasizing the need for the Tamil Nadu government to make appropriate decisions based on its April 10 directive from the previous year. In that order, the court permitted the Vedanta group to maintain its Sterlite copper unit under the supervision of a local-level monitoring committee. The court also allowed the evacuation of remaining gypsum at the plant and provided necessary manpower, noting that certain actions recommended by the district collector were not undertaken, and the state government would reassess the need for further directions.

During a previous hearing, the counsel for Tamil Nadu stated that steps had been taken to implement the directions outlined in the April 10 order, allowing necessary consequential measures for actions permitted by the communication dated March 6, 2023.

"We instruct that the state of Tamil Nadu must make decisions in accordance with the observations outlined in paragraphs four and five of the April 10, 2023, order by June 1, 2023," declared the bench. The Supreme Court scheduled the final disposal of the plea for August 22 and 23 of the previous year.

The backdrop of the case involves a tragic incident on May 22, 2018, where at least 13 people lost their lives, and numerous others were injured as the police resorted to firing on a large crowd protesting against pollution reportedly caused by the copper smelting unit.

In response to violent protests over pollution concerns, on May 28, 2018, the Tamil Nadu government directed the state pollution control board to seal and permanently close the mining group's plant.