Himachal Govt defends policy for one percent free power in HC
Shimla, Nov 4,
The Himachal Pradesh Government presented its arguments before the High Court on Monday, advocating for its policy mandating one percent free power from the JSW Power Project at Karchham Wangtoo under the Local Area Development Authority (LADA) scheme.
Advocate General Anup Rattan submitted the government’s stance before the Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyan Vaidya. The Advocate General contended that the state had formulated a comprehensive policy requiring both the power company and the state government to contribute one percent of the project’s generated power to the affected local areas.
This policy, he argued, applies universally to all power projects, irrespective of whether they were established before or after the policy’s enactment, thus holding both prospective and retrospective applicability.
The policy has been challenged by JSW Power Ltd., represented by Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram, who filed a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) against the state. The petitioners argue that the Karchham Wangtoo and Baspa power projects, governed by pre-existing Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) signed in 2008, are exempt from this mandate. They assert that the PPAs did not include any provisions for the allocation of one percent free power under the LADA scheme.
The petition further maintains that applying the new policy retrospectively contravenes established contractual obligations and legal principles, as the policy should apply only to projects developed subsequent to its implementation.
The Division Bench has scheduled the next hearing for December 2, during which arguments from the petitioner’s counsel will be heard.
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