Shimla, Mar 5 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday declared as unconstitutional the water cess levied by the state government on hydropower generation.
A division bench of Justices Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Satyen Vaidya quashed the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Electricity Generation Act, 2023, saying it was beyond the power of the state government to enact such laws.
Disposing of 40 petitions filed by private power-producing companies and central hydropower-generating undertakings, the bench also set aside the HP Water Cess on Hydropower Electricity Generation Rules 2023.
Sections 10 and 15 of the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Electricity Generation Act, 2023, dealing with fixation and liability to pay cess made applicable to the existing projects, are declared to be unconstitutional and stand quashed, the bench said in its verdict.
The court also ordered that the sum of money recovered from the petitioners under the provisions of the Act should be refunded within four weeks from March 5.
The bench further quashed the letter and notice issued by the state government and the water commission seeking recovery of water cess from the petitioners.
Two months after coming to power, the Himachal Pradesh government headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu promulgated an ordinance on water cess on February 15, 2023.
The Assembly later passed the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Generation Bill on March 16, 2023, replacing the ordinance.
The government constituted the State Water Cess Commission, which issued notices to 173 hydropower-producing companies and cess amounting to Rs 871 crore was collected from March to July 2023.
However, the public sector companies declined to pay the cess and moved the high court.
The Punjab and Haryana governments also opposed the levying of water cess and passed resolutions in their respective Assemblies in this regard. PTI BPL IJT
About the Author
