The Andhra Pradesh High Court today began the hearing of
a petition filed by former IPS officer, V V Lakshminarayana, asking for a stay on the Centre's decision to privatise the state's historic Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), effectively stalling any attempts of the Centre to move ahead with the sale of the plant till the completion of the ongoing judicial proceedings.
In his petition, Lakshminarayana had reportedly urged the court to issue a stay order on the Centre's controversial decision, saying that it was still possible to revive the VSP economically. He even highlighted various alternatives through which the plant's profit margins could be hiked - what he made abundantly clear was his belief that disinvesting from the VSP was not at all the answer to its pecuniary issues.
Lawyers Adinarayana and Y Balaji, representing the petitioner, presented their arguments against the privatisation move at today's hearing.
They pointed out that the decision violated the Constitutional rights of those who had given away their land for the VSP, and added that in the early 1970s more than 16,000 farmers had given up a total of 22,000 acres at the throw-away price of Rs 1,200 per acre as they had been assured that at least one person from each displaced family would get a permanent job at the plant.
They argued that the privatisation would thus take away the livelihoods of about 8,000 families.
The court then asked the AP government to clarify its stand on the matter, to which the government's representative replied by saying that it had already appealed to the Centre to reconsider the decision.
The HC also issued notices to the Centre to file a counter-affidavit against the petition.
After this, the court was adjourned for four weeks.
The decision to privatise the VSP has sparked massive outrage in the state - the plant's workers, who have been getting the support of most parties in the state, have been engaged in
protesting the decision for weeks now. Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his government has also clearly stated that it will
oppose the move.
The historic plant is seen as a symbol of the self-respect and will power of the people of Andhra Pradesh, something evident from former AP CM Chandrababu Naidu's
condemnation of the Centre's proposal.