The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to inform by Monday if it was willing to take over the oxygen plant of Vedanta Ltd’s closed Sterlite Industries copper factory in Tuticorin for producing 1,000 mega tonnes of oxygen to tackle the countrywide crisis.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat passed the directions after senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, opposed the plea of both the Centre and Vedanta Industries to reopen the plant, citing the possibility of law-and-order problems.

Fourteen persons had died in 2018 following police firing and clashes after activists had demanded the plant’s closure over environmental and health concerns. Since then the plant has been closed and subsequent attempts by Vedanta Industries to reopen it has been rejected by the apex court too.

But on Thursday, Vedanta, represented by senior advocate Harish Salve, and the Centre, represented by solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, sought temporary permission to reopen the plant to augment the country’s high demand of oxygen for Covid patients.

Vaidyanathan said: “…There was a huge law-and-order problem. About 13 people had died…. They tried their best to persuade. Local media and a huge lot of people have been approached.”

CJI Bobde countered, saying: “Yesterday you did not tell us about the law-and-order situation. People are dying due to lack of oxygen. Why can’t you take over the oxygen plant?”

Senior advocate Colin Gonzalves, representing some of those opposed to the plant’s reopening, intervened to say that the state should be allowed to take over the plant for producing oxygen.

“We have no problem that the state government takes over the plant,” CJI Bobde said.

Mehta said the plant had the capacity of producing 1,000MT of oxygen. “The country is in need of oxygen,” he said, prompting the CJI to say: “You don’t have to labour on that point which we ourselves hold….”

Tamil Nadu is aware about the same. Let the state produce it.”

Vaidyanathan said he needed time to respond. He suggested that under the Disaster Management Act, the Centre had the power to take over the production at the plant.

“We are not interested that Vedanata or A, B or C produce it. When people are dying, the state government says that we are not going to produce because of law-and-order problems. People are dying. It’s not a question of Vedanta,” CJI Bobde said.

The bench directed the Tamil Nadu government to file its response by Monday through an affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing to Tuesday.