The Court of Appeal today (25) ordered that a writ petition filed by 17 solar energy producers be taken up on August 04 to confirm the facts.

The petition seeks an order to invalidate the government’s decision to reduce the payments made to solar energy producers by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) for the purchase of electricity generated through rooftop solar systems.

The petition was taken up before Court of Appeal Justice Priyantha Fernando.

The bench, having considered the facts presented by Attorney-at-Law Manohara De Silva, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners, issued the order to confirm the facts presented in the writ petition.

The petitioners claim that the Cabinet has arbitrarily decided to reduce the payments made by the CEB and LECO for rooftop solar-generated electricity, effective from July 1.

They point out that, according to the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) must be obtained to implement such a price reduction. However, they allege that no such approval was obtained.

The petitioners further state that although the PUCSL issued a notice instructing not to implement the reduction, the said notice has not been implemented.

They argue that the government’s decision to reduce payments solely based on a Cabinet decision is completely contrary to the law and therefore request an order to invalidate the decision.

The petitioners also request the court to issue an interim injunction preventing the implementation of the decision to reduce the payments until the hearings of the petition are concluded.