All-party meeting to discuss Vedanta’s plea

An all-party meet here on Monday will deliberate on the stand to be taken by Tamilnadu on Vedanta’s plea in the Supreme Court, seeking its nod to open the company’s Sterlite copper unit in the state to produce oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients.

Asked about DMK’s stand on allowing Sterlite to produce oxygen, DMK general secretary Duraimurugan said organisational secretary R S Bharathi and Tuticorin Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi would articulate the party position in the meeting.

The office of Kanimozhi, who is also the women’s wing secretary of the party, in a brief statement said that she would take part in the meeting.

People are dying due to lack of oxygen, the Supreme Court had said on 23 April, asking why the Tamilnadu government cannot take over the Sterlite copper unit for producing oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients.

“We are not interested that Vedanta or A, B or C runs it. We are interested that oxygen should be produced,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde had said.

“Somebody should say something concrete because people are dying due to lack of oxygen,” said the bench, also comprising Justices L N Rao and S R Bhat.

The apex court was hearing Vedanta’s plea seeking opening of its unit at Tuticorin on the ground that it would produce thousand tonnes of oxygen and give it free of cost to treat COVID-19 patients.