Karnataka HC sets aside NCLT order regarding windmills on forest land

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that had passed an order allowing the operations of windmills on forest land in the state to a Mumbai-based company.

The HC said the tribunal did not have jurisdiction over the matter of setting aside a government order.

"The company could not have knocked at the doors of the Tribunal as it completely falls beyond the purview of the Code, being in the realm of public law, since the State has exercised its jurisdiction in drawing up the proceedings and directing forest clearances to be submitted by the corporate debtor, the petitioner, in exercise of powers conferred under the Statute. Therefore, they are in the realm of public law," Justice M Nagaprasanna said in his judgment.

The tribunal had no jurisdiction to direct functioning/continuing of the windmill without the forest clearance, merely because the state had granted such permission at an earlier point in time, the court stated.

The ...