Parliament has been adjourned for half an hour to decide whether the controversial Assets Acquisition Bill will be taken up for debate. The Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa adjourned the session after the opposition raised objection to the proposed bill.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that the government’s controversial legislation to acquire so-called underperforming enterprises and under-utilised assets is consistent with the country’s constitution, parliament was told on Tuesday, despite some opposition.

The government act, which was presented to parliament on Tuesday, will see the state acquiring 37 private businesses it has defined as underperforming.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa referred the proposed law to the Supreme Court last week to see if it was consistent with the constitution, a procedure followed by the government before when introducing a new act in an urgent manner.

Since the end of its 25-year civil war in 2009 Sri Lanka has been working to improve the investment climate, including making fiscal and tax reforms under the guidance of the International Monetary Fund, and the government has said the new legislation would provide effective management for the businesses and assets to be acquired.

These include Hotel Developers Lanka Plc , which owns the five-star Hilton Colombo hotel, and 6,300 hectares of land owned by Pelwatte Sugar Industries Plc .

Shares in Pelwatte Sugar fell 11 percent to 24 rupees on Tuesday, while Hotel Developers Lanka fell 5.8 percent to 122.50 rupees.

Once the government takes over the properties the owners will be compensated, it has said, without saying how much will be paid.

Though Rajapaksa has said the bill will be a ‘one-off’ act to acquire the specified properties, economists, investors, state officials and opposition have raised concerns over it, saying it could damage business confidence.