NEW DELHI: The Bombay High Court has passed a restraining order against a prominent Vikhe Patil family-owned sugar factory in Ahmednagar, asking the promoters not to enter the premises of a local power plant, and not to carry out any work/activity therein.
The Vikhe Patil family, to which the local MP Sujay Vikhe Patil belongs, controls the Padamshri Dr Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana in Ahmednagar district. Pravara Renewable Energy Ltd (PREL) had set up the power plant at the sugar factory premises of Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana. Late last year, the Karkhana allegedly ousted PREL, occupied the power plant and started running it.
PREL filed a commercial arbitration petition before the Bombay High Court. The court said that the Karkhana’s forceful operation of the power plant was illegal and the parties would lose faith in the system if their contractual rights were taken away using political power. “Irreparable damage will be caused to the plant if the Karkhana continues to operate the plant,” it said.
The court said the “the petitioner’s case is of coercive actions having taken place to oust the petitioner from the co-generation plant by the respondent after the present petition was filed on 12 October 2021. The respondent using its dominating position as a powerful sugar factory.”
The court further said that prima facie, it is apparent that there is a systematic commercial modus operandi on the part of the Karkhana to take over the co-gen plant. Firstly, by permitting PREL to set up the co-gen plant for which the PREL incurred substantial expenditure of Rs 274 crore by borrowing funds fully to the knowledge of the Karkhana, and thereafter by not supplying the agreed amount of bagasse and biogas, the basic raw-material for generation of power and steam, thereby depriving PREL of a normal functioning of the plant to recoup its investments and earn profits.
The court also made adverse remarks about the dismantling of the biogas pipeline and using it for the captive generation facility, which was a clear indication that there was no intention to supply biogas thereby crippling PREL.