Staff Correspondent:

There are inconsistencies in the agreements signed for Independent Power Plants (IPP) during the tenure of the Awami League government, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said on Tuesday (July 15).

A decision has been made to review all these deals, he said after meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held at the Secretariat.

Speaking to reporters about the decisions, the finance adviser said there are many foreign companies involved, and the High Court has already issued directives to review the IPP contracts.

“We will do this through discussions. Legal assistance is needed for this, and we have approved a proposal to arrange it,” he said.

He added that as legal matters are involved, the review cannot be done unilaterally.

The High Court declared unconstitutional two sections of the long-debated “Indemnity Act” of the power sector that protected the decisions of the government from legal challenges and gave the it sole authority to approve all sorts of plans for the sector.

The HC however condoned the actions already taken in good faith under the two sections of the act to avoid legal complexities.

It also directed the government authorities concerned to immediately take necessary steps to make all the state-owned power plants fully operational in the national interest.