No urgent hearing against Vedanta access to admin of Tuticorin plant: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined urgent hearing on a plea by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order allowing mining major Vedanta group access to the administrative unit inside its closed Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin in the state.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said it will hear the plea next week.

The state government had on August 14 moved the apex court against the NGT order.

The NGT had on August 9 allowed Vedanta to enter the administrative unit inside its Sterlite copper plant, observing that no environmental damage would be caused by allowing access to the administrative section.

The tribunal, however, had said the plant would remain closed and the company would not have access to its production unit and directed the district magistrate to ensure this.

NOTA voting option can't be permitted in Rajya Sabha polls: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the option of none of the above (NOTA) cannot be permitted in Rajya Sabha elections.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud has set aside the Election Commission's notification allowing NOTA option in the ballot papers for Rajya Sabha polls.

The apex court had questioned the poll panel's notification and said that NOTA was meant to be exercised by individual voters in direct polls.

The verdict came on a plea of Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, who was the Congress's chief whip in the Gujarat assembly during the last Rajya Sabha polls, in which the party had fielded sitting MP Ahmed Patel.

Parmar had challenged the poll panel's notification allowing the NOTA option in ballot papers.

The top court had earlier said by introducing NOTA, the poll panel was legitimising the act of not voting.

The Gujarat Congress leader had alleged that if the NOTA provision was allowed in the Rajya Sabha polls, it would encourage "horse-trading and corruption".

The poll panel had said NOTA was first introduced in 2014 following an apex court verdict a year earlier and they (the Congress) did not have any objection in subsequent polls as it suited them.