Writ seeks cancellation of power agreements with Adani Group
A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of all agreements with India's Adani Group regarding electricity, along with instructions to the relevant government authorities.
Barrister M Kayyum Liton filed the petition in the relevant branch of the High Court in public interest on Wednesday.
The petition demanded an immediate review of the unjust one-sided agreements, or their complete cancellation. It also called for the formation of a review committee, consisting of energy and legal experts, to submit a detailed report.
The Chairman of the Power Development Board (PDB) and the Secretary of the Ministry of Energy were made respondents to the writ. A three-day deadline has been set for taking action on the matter.
Earlier, the same lawyer sent a legal notice to the concerned government authorities on November 6, seeking the cancellation of all agreements with Adani Group regarding electricity. In the notice, Barrister M Kayyum stated that if the process for reviewing the agreements did not begin within three days, he would file a petition in the High Court. Since no action was taken, the petition was filed today.
The petition is expected to be heard in the High Court by a bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury.
The electricity purchase agreement with Adani was hurriedly signed in 2017 under the directive of the Ministry of Energy, even though no coal-based power plants for importing electricity had been operational in the country at that time.
One of these agreements is a 25-year electricity purchase contract signed with Adani in 2017. Electricity is primarily being supplied to Bangladesh from Adani’s 1,600 MW power plant in Jharkhand, India.
On September 28, during the National Review Committee meeting, it was decided to collect relevant data and information on 11 power plants, including Adani’s. The Ministry of Energy has issued directives to provide these documents and data to the committee.
