HC orders CBI probe into firing on Sterlite protesters
CHENNAI: The Madras high court’s Madurai bench on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the police firing on protesters outside a Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi on May 22 which left 13 people dead and at least 60 injured.
The bench of justices CT Selvam and AM Basheer Ahamed also transferred all the criminal cases filed about the protests to CBI and quashed the detention of six agitators by the police under the National Security Act.
Reacting to the verdict, Tamil Nadu minister D Jayakumar said that the “government will definitely meet to decide the next course of action”.
A nearly 100-day-long agitation in Thoothukudi against the Sterlite copper smelter plant, owned by Vedanta Ltd, turned violent on May 22, when the police said it was forced to open fire on protesters after all other options had failed. Residents in the area have long blamed pollution from the plant for their failing health. Opposition parties in the state criticised the government for the police action.
The Tamil Nadu police have so far registered a total of 173 FIRs into the incident.
On July 12, the high court had directed the state government to furnish videos in its possession about what had transpired. The court had observed that a CBI investigation would instil confidence in the minds of the people.
On August 1, the Court had quashed the charges under the National Security Act brought against advocate Hari Raghavan, who had appeared for the protesters. The court also summoned the Thoothukudi district collector Sandeep Nanduri and directed him not to register cases against villagers who protested against the Sterlite plant.
The Tamil Nadu government had, on May 28, ordered the state pollution control board to seal and “permanently” close the plant.
Sterlite officials and protesters’ representatives said they didn’t want to comment on the court order.