Nepal's Supreme Court vacates stay order against GMR project

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Supreme Court has lifted its stay order and allowed the government to go-ahead with the power development agreement negotiation with Indian infrastructure major GMR for building the 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydropower Project.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma and Justice Prakash Wosti yesterday said it was not necessary to continue the stay order as issues raised in the petition would be dealt with during the final hearing.

"The disputes raised by the writ petitioners shall be decided after the final hearing, hence there was no need to continue the temporary stay order issued on July 23," the bench said.

The bench has issued a priority order for the final hearing on the writ to be conducted within 15 days of the written explanation by the defendant government authorities.

A single bench of the apex court on July 23 issued the interim stay order on the implementation of the detailed Engineering Report and Power Development Agreement, responding to a writ filed by 29 individuals of the affected districts in far-western Nepal.

The petitioners had argued the MoU signed between the Government of Nepal and GMR Energy to develop the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project in January 2008 had ignored rights of the locals in the affected districts.

The Nepal Investment Board is currently holding negotiations with the India power company which has already spent three years for developing the Upper Karnali project.