Thoothukudi anti-Sterlite protests: Madras High Court orders CBI inquiry into police firing that killed 13 people

The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI inquiry into the police firing during the anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi which had killed 13 people, media reports said. All cases relating to the violence will now be transferred to the central bureau, CNN-News 18 reported.

#BREAKING -- Madras High court orders CBI inquiry into Tuticorin Unrest | @nimumurali with more updates pic.twitter.com/fC1zlm5cGQ

— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 14, 2018

Reacting to this, Tamil Nadu minister D Jayakumar told ANI that the state government will definitely hold a meeting to discuss this.

The court also quashed an order detaining six members of the ‘Makkal Adhikaram,’ a Left outfit accused of inciting violence in the district. Six of them were arrested under the National Security Act. A division bench of Justices CT Selvam and Basheer Ahmed passed the orders on a batch of petitions related to the Tuticorin police firing.

On 22 May, after the Thoothukudi district collectorate was picketed to seek closure of the Sterlite copper plant, a unit of the Vedanta group, over pollution concerns, large-scale violence had followed.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on 17 August the plea of Tamil Nadu government challenging an order of the National Green Tribunal allowing mining major Vedanta access to the administrative unit inside its closed Sterlite copper plant at Thoothukudi in the state. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar considered the submission of the state government and posted its plea for hearing on 17 August.

Earlier, on 12 August Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami had chaired a meeting of ministers and officials to discuss the next course of action in the Sterlite copper smelter plant closure issue. In a statement, the government said that Palaniswami chaired a meeting of ministers and officials to decide on the next course of action after the NGT orders on the case filed by Vedanta Ltd that owns the Sterlite copper smelter plant in Tuticorin, around 650 kilometres from Chennai.

On 1 August, the Madras High Court had held up the Palaniswami government demanding an explanation of the circumstances that led to police firing into a crowd in Thoothukudi by 6 June. The protest took place last month, leading to the death of 13 people.

With inputs from PTI