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The interim government has repealed the 'controversial' Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010 on Saturday, 14 years after its enactment.
President Md Shahabuddin promulgated an ordinance on Thursday, repealing the law that has long been identified by critics as a 'black law'.
The advisory council of the interim government earlier on November 20 endorsed a policy-level final nod to a proposal for promulgating the "Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) (Repeal) Ordinance, 2024".
Any contract or measure taken under it before the repeal will remain valid, according to the ordinance.
Ongoing activities under such contracts must be continued or concluded as if the law had not been repealed, it said.
The government reserves the right to review any activities conducted under the law in the public interest and may take any necessary action regarding those activities, the ordinance said.
"From now on all projects and contracts of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources will have to be done through competitive bidding," energy adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan told the FE Saturday. As the law has been repealed and an ordinance promulgated, there is no scope for inking any deal following negotiations, he said.
The rights group - Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) - however, criticised offering validity of contracts or measures taken under it before the repeal and their continuation, and termed it as tantamount to offering immunity to the parties involved with the contracts.
"We have long been demanding trial and prosecution of those who were involved with inking the controversial deals jeopardising the country's interests," said CAB energy adviser Professor Md Shamsul Alam.
Sources said that previously the High Court on November 14 declared the immunity provision of section 9 of the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act-2010 as "illegal and unconstitutional."
It also declared section 6(2) of the law illegal.
According to Section 9 of the act, no question can be raised before any court regarding the validity of any action, or any action deemed to have been done, any action taken and any order or direction given under this act.
Section 6(2) of the act reads that any planning or proposal related to the buying or investment decisions has to be approved by the energy minister and sent to the cabinet committee for approval after communicating and bargaining with one or more institutions.
After the interim government taking office, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) in mid-August suspended all negotiations, selections, and purchasing processes of all power and energy projects under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010.
All activities under the already-signed deals under the special law in the power and energy sector will, however, be continued, he said on his first day in office.
"We shall, however, review the terms and conditions of the deals already inked under the law," Mr Khan had said then.
The special law, enacted during the tenure of the previous authoritarian Awami League government, was facing allegations of facilitating embezzlement of huge foreign currencies by parties involved.