Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · India · 2018–2024

Thoothukudi Sterlite copper smelter protest shooting

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 13 people died.
    Killed when police fired on anti-Sterlite protesters, 22 May 2018.
What the record lacks: 1 not measured · 3 unclear See the gaps

Police fired on people protesting against Vedanta's Sterlite copper smelter in Thoothukudi, India, on 22 May 2018, killing 13. The plant was ordered closed on 28 May 2018, and India's Supreme Court dismissed the company's appeal in 2024.

13People killed when police fired on protesters, 22 May 2018
Count as recorded in the sources reviewed.

Status As of October 2024: the Supreme Court dismissed Vedanta's review petition and the plant remains closed; the outcome of the CBI probe into the shooting is not recorded in the sources reviewed.

What?
Police fired on protesters against Vedanta's Sterlite copper smelter, killing 13; the plant was closed and the closure was upheld by the courts.
Where?
Thoothukudi, India.
When?
Shooting on 22 May 2018; closure order 28 May 2018; High Court ruling August 2020; Supreme Court orders 29 February 2024 and October 2024.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Vedanta — The Sterlite copper smelter was ordered permanently closed on 28 May 2018; its appeal and review petition were dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2024. The News Minute
Harmed
  • Thirteen people killed in the police firing — Killed on 22 May 2018 during the protest against the plant.
Why?
The sources reviewed do not state the grounds of the protest or of the closure order.
How?
Police opened fire on the protesters; the closure was then ordered and tested in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 22 May 2018 police in Thoothukudi, India, fired on people protesting against the Sterlite copper smelter, a plant of the mining group Vedanta. Thirteen people were killed.

The plant was ordered permanently closed on 28 May 2018. The Madras High Court upheld the closure in August 2020. The Supreme Court of India dismissed Vedanta's appeal on 29 February 2024 and its review petition in October 2024.

Accountability for the shooting was the subject of a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's national police agency. The sources reviewed give no outcome of that probe.

Election Commission data on electoral bonds for 2019 to 2024, published on 14 March 2024 after a decision dated 15 February 2024, list the purchasers and redeemers of the bonds. According to The Wire, Vedanta was the fourth-largest purchaser.

  1. 201822 May: police fire on anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi; 13 killed. 28 May: plant ordered permanently closed
  2. 2020August: Madras High Court upholds the closure
  3. 202429 February: Supreme Court dismisses Vedanta's appeal. 14 March: electoral bond data published (Vedanta named as fourth-largest purchaser by The Wire). October: review petition dismissed

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Police fired on anti-Sterlite protesters on 22 May 2018 and 13 people were killed.
    • The plant was ordered permanently closed on 28 May 2018; the Madras High Court upheld the closure in August 2020.
    • The Supreme Court dismissed Vedanta's appeal on 29 February 2024 and its review petition in October 2024.
      The News Minute
    • The Election Commission's electoral bond data for 2019 to 2024 (763 pages; decision of 15 February 2024, published 14 March 2024) were reported by The Wire to show Vedanta as the fourth-largest purchaser.
      Election Commission of India, via ruralindiaonline.org
    • Vedanta is listed among the extractives and energy members of the Forest Future Alliance, which describes itself as an evolution of 1t.org.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2020-08Outcome not on record
      Challenge to the closure of the Sterlite copper smelter (Madras High Court)
      Madras High Court · Administrative · Not specified in the sources reviewed → Authorities that ordered the closure

      The Madras High Court upheld the closure of the plant in August 2020.

    2. 2024-10Defendant won
      Vedanta appeal against the closure of the Sterlite copper smelter (Supreme Court of India)
      Supreme Court of India · Appeal · Vedanta → Authorities that ordered the closure

      The Supreme Court dismissed Vedanta's appeal on 29 February 2024 and its review petition in October 2024. The News Minute

    3. Outcome not on record
      CBI probe into the police shooting of 22 May 2018
      Central Bureau of Investigation (national police) · Criminal · Not specified in the sources reviewed → Not specified in the sources reviewed

      The shooting was the subject of a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. No outcome is recorded in the sources reviewed.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Plant status
    Closed
    Ordered permanently closed 28 May 2018; closure upheld by the Madras High Court (2020) and the Supreme Court (2024)
    People killed in the protest shooting
    13
    22 May 2018

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Court ruling existsDeaths reported

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Court

    • Unclear Challenge to the closure of the Sterlite copper smelter (Madras High Court): outcome not on record.
    • Unclear CBI probe into the police shooting of 22 May 2018: outcome not on record.

    Record

    • Unclear Whether the electoral bond purchases are connected to any decision on the plant: the sources reviewed show purchases in the same period only and establish no link.

    Did the harm stop?

    The plant was ordered permanently closed on 28 May 2018, and the closure was upheld by the Madras High Court (August 2020) and the Supreme Court (February and October 2024).

    Who paid?

    Thirteen people were killed in the police firing. No compensation or penalty figure is recorded in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Government and regulators

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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