The Uttarakhand High Court has rejected all the petitions filed by various hydro-power project companies against the Uttarakhand government, upholding the water tax on hydropower generation in the state.
A one-judge bench of Justice Lokpal Singh gave this judgement on Friday (February 12). According to the case, the UP govt explicated the Srinagar Hydro Electric Project in 1981 with a capacity of 330 MW. The project development was entrusted to the Irrigation department of the erstwhile UP Government and was planned and mapped to be developed using the World Bank funds.
The High Court strictly rejecting the petitions iterating that the legislature has all the right and authority to enact and implement such an act. This tax is not on the use of water but on the generation of electricity from water which is made within the constitutional scope. The court also quashed the interim relief order issued on 26 April 2016 in favor of the petitioner companies. In which the state government had given notice to these companies for recovery of arrears of crores of rupees by taxing electricity generation.
Earlier in the year 2016, the court had stayed the application of this act.
Lawcutor 