Writ petition filed to cancel power deals with Adani Group

A writ petition has been filed with the High Court (HC) seeking it directives to scrap all ‘one-sided’ power deals inked with Indian Adani Group.

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister M Abdul Qaiyum lodged the petition in the public interest with the concerned section of the HC on Wednesday.

An HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashis Roy Chowdhury may hold a hearing next Sunday, said the writ petitioner.

On November 6, the lawyer sent a legal notice to the chairman to the Power Development Board (BPDB) and the secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, seeking review or cancellation the deals with Adani Group within three days.

If the review work of the deals isn’t initiated within three days, a writ petition would be submitted in this regard, the notice reads. As the review work did not start within the stipulated time the petition was filed.

The notice also called for the formation of a review committee comprising energy and legal experts to submit a detailed report.

On September 28, the National Review Committee decided to collect data on 11 power plants. Instructions were given from the Power Division to provide these information and documents to the committee. This includes Adani's power plant in India.

The government signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) in November 2017 with Adani Power under an unsolicited offer, to buy electricity from its 1600 MW power plant in Godda of Jharkhand. It started importing electricity from the plant in April 2023.