MDMK chief and Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko was at the receiving end of praise on Tuesday, from the Madras High Court which appreciated the arguments he had put forth against Sterlite Copper's reopening in Thoothukudi district. The senior political leader in turn welcomed the judgment and termed it a victory of justice.
In a video that was circulated by the MDMK following the verdict, Vaiko says, "This is a victory for justice itself and for the people who protested against the plant. This is justice for the 13 people whose blood was shed. For the last 26 years, there have been multiple protests conducted by MDMK against Sterlite Copper. There cannot be any news more heartening than this."
Vaiko who was part of counsel that argued against reopening welcomes judgement #SterliteCase pic.twitter.com/MwYxRZEZS0
— priyankathirumurthy (@priyankathiru) August 18, 2020
The Madras High Court which made its judgment clear within minutes on Tuesday morning acknowledged the patient efforts and arguments put forth by the counsel which fought for the closure of the plant. In addition to Vaiko, the Court appreciated advocates Muthuramalinga, Vaigai, Yogasehsan, Punguzheli, Abdul Salim, Masilamani, CS Vaidyanathan and Mohan.
Vaiko had impleaded himself as a party in the plea, amid strong opposition from Sterlite Copper's counsel. The plant had moved the High Court in June 2019, against the Tamil Nadu government's closure order. The division bench of Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan had permitted Vaiko and four other individuals to be added as parties to the proceedings. The bench agreed that in environment related issues even a stranger to the area has the locus standi to approach the court.
Vaiko, who has registered various objections to the functioning of the plant from 1997, had also impleaded himself into the case when the National Green Tribunal was handling the matter. Sterlite had objected to this but Vaiko prevailed and had put forth his arguments against the reopening of the plant.