SC allows 30 staff at LG Polymers unit

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed LG Polymers India Ltd to send its 30 employees to maintain “round the clock safety measures” at its sealed plant in Visakhapatnam where the gas leak took place on May 7 in which as many as 12 people were killed.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted 30 personnel of LG Polymer “round the clock” access to its Vizag plant which was shut down after toxic gas leak on May 7, 2020, to take “adequate safety measures”.

Allowing the round the clock access to the plant by 30 staffers of LG Polymer, a bench comprising Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Justice Vineet Saran said that its ad-interim order permitting access to the plant would continue till the high court considers the matter and thereafter pass appropriate directions.

The top court permitted the 30 officials of LG Polymer to access the plant relaxing May 22, 2020, order of the Andhra Pradesh high court “completely” seizing the premises of the LG Polymer barring the entry of any one including the directors of the company.

The court said that the list of 30 officials would be submitted to district collector, and “upon such names being given to the district collector, those persons shall be accorded access to the plant round the clock to maintain adequate safety measures.”

The court passed the ad-interim order allowing access to the plant noting the “prima-facie” force in the arguments of senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the LG Polymer.

Mr Rohatgi had told the apex court that the “temperature of the plant cannot be allowed to go beyond 25ºC; and if by any chance because of lack of adequate attention or safety measures, if the temperature goes beyond 25ºC situation can have some ill effects.”