High Court quashes water cess on hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh

Justice Tarlok Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya, sitting as a Division Bench, ruled that the clauses outlined in the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Electricity Generation Act, 2023, exceed the legislative authority vested in the state government under Articles 246 and 265 of the Constitution of India, rendering them ultra vires the Constitution.