more-in The Madras High Court has refused to injunct Sterlite copper or any other organisation from relying upon a study report prepared by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in July this year with respect to the quality of water in and around the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Sipcot) industrial park in Thoothukudi district. Justices R. Subbiah and R. Pongiappan refused to grant an interim injunction sought by the State government which had filed a writ petition against the report and claimed that the CGWB had prepared it unilaterally without informing either the district administration or authorities such as the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). The Bench chose to simply order notices returnable by two weeks to the CGWB as well as the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation after Additional Solicitor General G. Rajagopalan contended that any dispute between the State government and the Centre could be adjudicated only by the Supreme Court and not a High Court. He pointed out that Article 131 of the Constitution speaks about the original jurisdiction that could be exercised by the Supreme Court to the exclusion of all other courts and sub-clause (b) specifically states that any dispute between the Centre and any State could be heard only by the SC and not by the High Courts. It was also argued that a study report prepared by an expert body could not be questioned by way of a writ petition. Since the ASG questioned the maintainability of the petition itself, the judges asked him to file a detailed counter-affidavit in two weeks, after which the court would take a call on the issue. In an affidavit filed in support of the State government’s writ petition, Environment and Forest Secretary Shambu Kallolikar accused the CGWB of having prepared the ‘Report on Short Term Investigation of Groundwater Quality in and around Sipcot Industrial Area, Tuticorin’ without taking the State into confidence. The report concluded that Sterlite industries was not the only reason for the excess quantity of lead, manganese, copper, arsenic and cromium nickel in the groundwater, and that there were other contributing factors.

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