The High Court (HC) on Thursday declared the immunity provision in Section 9 of the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act-2010 as “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed the rule. On September 2, the court issued a rule questioning the legality of the immunity provision in Section 9 of the act.
Senior lawyer Dr Shahdeen Malik accompanied by Barrister Cynthia Farid submitted the petition challenging the validity of the immunity related to quick rental and the purchase provision in Section 6(2).
According to the section 9 of the act, no question can be raised before any court regarding the validity of any action, or any action deemed to have been done, any action taken and any order or direction given under this act.
Section 6(2) of the act reads that any planning or proposal related to the buying or investment decisions has to be approved by the energy minister and sent to the cabinet committee for approval after communicating and bargaining with one or more institutions following Section 7 of the Act. Lawyers said the HC with this ruling minister's sole power to make decisions on procurement matters has been revoked.
Now the government can reconsider the contract with rental-based power plants if it wants. In the ruling, the court said a law that acquits companies from being questioned is illegal and no person can have sole power over procurement matters in a democratic country. This is against the constitution.
After the ruling, Dr Shahdeen Malik told reporters that there was a special provision in the law for quick rental looting. The specialty of quick rental is that even if the power is not supplied, the contracting company will get the full amount agreed in the contract.
During the Awami League era, looting was given a legal basis through this law, he added.
