Sterlite protest: HC orders stay on plant's construction after 12 shot dead

People have been protesting against the Sterlite Copper smelter plant for the past 100 days, with 11 protestors being killed after the police opened fire on them on Tuesday

Madras High Court's Madurai Bench on Wednesday ordered that construction work on the second plant of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper at Thoothukudi be stopped with immediate effect. The development comes a day after 12 people were killed in police firing during protests against the Sterlite factory in Tamil Nadu.     

The order comes on a public interest litigation petition filed against Sterlite's application for renewal of environmental clearance for the proposed second plant, which was meant to double its copper refining capacity to 800,000 tonnes.  

A Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and M Sundar said that the application