Fresh legal hurdle for Adani Power in Sri Lanka?

• Court of Appeal issues notices to multiple Ministries and others in a case filed by a private firm that had planned a 50MW wind power plant prior to Adani’s proposed project on the same site in Pooneryn

One of Adani Power’s renewable energy projects – 234 MW in Pooneryn – has likely to have hit a fresh legal hurdle after the Court of Appeal last week issued notices to several Ministries and others in a case filed by a private firm that had planned a 50MW wind power plant prior to the Indian giant’s proposed project on the same site in Pooneryn.

The latest development follows the Court of Appeal’s consideration of an application preferred by the Petitioners, inter alia H.J.A.W. International Ltd., and Dutch Bay Holdings Ltd., challenging the acquisition by the State of private lands owned by the Petitioners situated in Pooneryn. The acquisition was allegedly for the purpose of facilitating the Adani Group’s proposed wind power project in the area, leading to notices being issued to the Respondents. The Minister of Lands, the relevant Divisional Secretary, the Secretaries of the Ministry of Power and Energy, and the State Ministry of Solar, Wind, and Hydro Power Generation Projects Development, and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority were some of the Respondents named in the said application.

The Petitioners disclosed that they proposed to build, own, and operate a 50 MW wind power plant on the lands subject to acquisition, consequent to an invitation for proposals to generate and supply electrical energy from renewable energy resources on build, own, and operate basis by the State Ministry of Solar, Wind and Hydro Power Generation Projects Development. Further, the Petitioners noted that despite the relevant authorities acknowledging the receipt of their proposal along with a detailed feasibility study and the requisite financial payment, they had received no response about the outcome of the proposal.

The Petitioners also submitted to the Court that they were shocked to learn that their lands were subject to acquisition by the Ministry of Lands for apparently the same purpose for which they proposed to utilise their own lands and that the Petitioners’ intellectual property and the proprietary and confidential information contained in their project proposal had allegedly been appropriated by the relevant officials in the said process. The Petitioners accordingly submitted that the draconian provisions of the Land Acquisition Act have been wrongfully invoked by the State to acquire land otherwise earmarked for the same public purpose purportedly disclosed in the Gazette published by the State.

The Court of Appeal issued notices against the Respondents, returnable on 11 September 2024. The Petitioners state that, if successful, the alleged unlawful acquisition process would be quashed by the Court of Appeal. PC Navin Marapana with Kaushalya Molligoda and Ruwantha Cooray, instructed by Sarravanan Neelakandan Law Associates, appeared on behalf of the Petitioners.