Ratnagiri Refinery: Maharashtra Govt Agrees To Withdraw Orders Prohibiting Protesting Villagers From Entering Their Hometown, Posting On Social Media

The Maharashtra Government on Thursday agreed to withdraw prohibitory orders against eight villagers from Ratnagiri, who were leading protests against the multi-billion project of Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd.

The orders passed under section 144(2) of the CrPC barred them from entering their hometown Rajapur Taluka for a month from April 21 – May 31, 2023 and from publishing adverse posts on social media which may cause confusion or incite a law-and-order situation in the area.

After hearing the petitioners, the Bombay High Court questioned how such orders could be passed and asked the state government’s lawyer to take appropriate instruction.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sharmila Deshmukh subsequently recorded the state government’s statement and disposed of the plea filed by the eight villagers to quash the orders.

The eight petitioners Amol Bole, Nitin Jathar, Dipak Joshi, Eknath Joshi Satish Bane, Narendra Joshi, Vaibhav Kolvankar, Kamlakar Gurav were represented by Advocate Vijay Hiremath.

While most of the petitioners are agriculturists with their livelihood dependent on farming, one of them is also a veterinarian.

The petitioners said the orders were issued against them for legitimately exercising their fundamental right to protest the proposed Barsu refinery, which would be based in Rajapur Taluka.

Since 2017 the locals of Babulwadi Rajapur were involved in protests against the refinery which was going to spread across 14 villages in Rajapur. Due to the protest the location was cancelled. However, in January 2022, the Uddhav Thackeray led MVA Government wrote to the Union to shift the refinery site to Barsu.

The petitioner claimed that the refinery will have long-term effects on agriculture and the natural resources they have inherited from their ancestors.

“The proposed refinery project will deprive the petitioners and all the villagers of their means of livelihood. The proposed location of the refinery will would severely impact farming activities of which the lives of the petitioners are dependent,” the plea said.

While they have been protesting peacefully, the Tehsildar, by issuing such orders is suppressing their freedom of speech, it was contended.

About the Project

According to the company’s website, Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (RRPCL) is a joint venture company, formed on 22nd September 2017, by the three national oil companies of India namely Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). It proposes to implement an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in the West Coast of Maharashtra. Besides fuels, the Project promises to develop various downstream petrochemicals to meet India’s fast-growing fuels and petrochemicals demand. Saudi Aramco (SA) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the two global oil & gas majors, have also expressed their intent to partner in this project and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed to this effect.

According to a report in the Hindu, the project is touted as the world’s largest single location refinery complex. As of April 2022, India’s oil refining capacity stood at 251.2 million metric tonnes per annum, making it the second-largest refiner in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.