A day after the Uttarakhand high court (HC) upheld the state’s right to tax the hydropower projects in the Himalayan state for using the state’s river waters for electricity generation, the firms operating these plants have said that they will challenge the order before the division bench of the HC.
Counsels appearing for two of the 11 power projects told TOI that they will file a special appeal soon before the division bench. “I have spoken to our clients and there is a collective view that the order has several issues. Therefore, we will file a special appeal before the division bench of the HC as soon as the winter vacations are over,” said DS Patni, the counsel representing Alaknanda Hydro Power Company Limited (AHPCL).
As reported by TOI, the single judge bench of Justice Lok Pal Singh on Saturday dismissed 11 petitions filed by the hydropower projects like THDC, AHPCL, National Hydro Power Corporation Limited (NHPCL) and many operating across the state and had upheld the Act passed by the state in 2012 that put an additional tax on them. The court rejected all the arguments ranging from unconstitutionality to double taxation as well as the challenge to the power of legislative assembly to frame laws for taxing generation of electricity. The court has also vacated its May 2015 order which stayed the recovery of this tax and said that it finds no fault in the provisional assessment of the tax owed by the firms and the notices of the demand sent for using the water from state’s rivers.
“We had argued that the Act was clearly ultra vires of the Constitution and amounted to double taxation. Further, the government didn’t even install meters, yet notices were served upon us demanding the charges. However, the court rejected all the arguments. Therefore, it is imperative that we challenge the order,” said another counsel.
