Tamil Nadu Decides to Drop Cases Against Party Leaders Involved in 2018 Sterlite Agitation

No more cases against Sterlite Agitation’s Party leaders! Learn more...

Thursday, 27th May 2021

The government in the state of Tamil Nadu has announced it will pull out the 38 cases that were filed against the party leaders who were involved in the anti-Sterlite protests of May, 2018.

Demonstrators had taken to the roads and marched their way to the local government headquarters in Thoothukudi leading to police firing that cost the lives of 13 people. Protestors in the port city were demanding a shutting down of a Sterlite copper smelter that was being controlled by Vedanta Resources, and was the alleged cause of severe environment pollution.

These environmental protests against Sterlite Copper were considered to be the deadliest of its kind in the country in the last ten years. Police measures to control the mobs also came under international glare and censure.

In May 2018, a working group of United Nations' human rights experts had denounced the “apparent excessive and disproportionate use of lethal force by police”.

Political leaders involved in the march and who are likely to get a relief as a result of this decision by the current government, include Vaiko, Nallakannu, TTV Dhinakaran and Premalatha Vijayakanth.

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Cases that have been filed against the leaders in question however, will continue to be probed. The investigation is being done by the CBI team.

The government issued a statement wherein they clarified how the decision came about and said the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin reviewed the interim report into the upheavals and casualties at the time, prepared by Justice (Retired) Aruna Jagadeesan.

According to the statement, earlier, cases against the protesters were withdrawn, and relaxation was accorded to 93 people.

An order from the Supreme Court of India after the country tottered under the vagaries of the second wave of the Covid-19 infections restarted the plant which is now producing the highly necessary medical oxygen. It is expected to continue the production of medical oxygen for a period of four months, subject to the possibility of extension of the production tenure. However, other activities like copper-manufacturing and running the co-generation plant shall not be allowed, as per the government’s rule.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

News18