Petition seeks HC order to review power deal with Adani

A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday filed a petition with the High Court seeking its directive on the government to review or cancel the electricity agreement with Adani Group of India.

Barrister M Abdul Qaiyum submitted the petition, challenging the legality of the agreement of government with Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited signed on November 5, 2017.

Qaiyum said the HC may hear the petition next week.

On November 6, the lawyer sent a legal notice to the chairman of Power Development Board and the secretary of the Ministry of Energy, asking to review or cancel the deal with Adani Group in three days.

Qaiyum said many experts have opined that under the agreement, Bangladesh will pay significantly higher prices in comparison to what it pays for its other coal-based power for lower-grade coal.

The coal will be supplied from an Adani-owned mine in Australia to an Adani-owned port in India from where it will get shipped to the Godda plant, which is in a coal-mining state (at the expenses of Bangladesh).

The writ petition referred to an Aljazeera report that said, "BPDB was basically locked into a power purchase agreement that allows Adani to import coal into an Indian coal mining state from Australia and pass the full cost onto Bangladesh."

Qaiyum, in the petition, said, "It is inconceivable that how such a one-sided agreement was executed by the BPDB unless officials involved were managed by Adani Ltd."