Battle over ownership of Wildflower Hall reaches SC

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, February 9

The decade-old legal battle over ownership of the British-era hotel Wildflower Hall run by the Oberoi group has reached the Supreme Court with the Himachal government filing a caveat in the apex court to plead its case.

‘Delay in filing reply’

• The East India Hotels Ltd (EIHL) was keen that the meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) fixed for February 8 be held to resolve the pending issues with government
• With the hotel being a joint venture, the BoD has representatives of both the state govt and the East India Hotels Ltd
• Chief Secretary, who is chairman of the BoD, decided to defer the meeting citing delay in filing reply by the EIHL
• The state govt is in minority in the BoD. Sources say that on account of this fact, the govt was not keen to hold BoD meeting

Interestingly, the East India Hotels Ltd (EIHL), the company running the hotel having moved Supreme Court, was keen that the meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) fixed for February 8 be held to resolve the pending issues with the state government. With the hotel being a joint venture, the BoD has representatives of both the Himachal Government and the East India Hotels Ltd.

However, the Chief Secretary, who is chairman of the BoD, decided to defer the meeting citing delay in filing reply by the EIHL. The fact remains that the state government is in a minority in the BoD as it has only three Members, namely the Chief Secretary, Member (Finance) and Secretary Tourism and Civil Aviation. Sources revealed that on account of this fact, the Himachal Government was not very keen to hold the BoD meeting.

Ever since the High Court order came in favour of the state government, efforts are on to rope in some high-end chain of five star hotels to run Wildflower Hall. The state government is hoping to get good revenue from the prime property.

The EIHL has challenged the High Court order directing the handing over of the property to the Himachal government. The EIHL and the Himachal government have been engaged in a bitter ownership battle over the high-end hotel, located 12 km from Shimla, amidst thick wooded deodar forest.

It was on January 5, 2024, that the High Court had given a verdict in favour of the Himachal Government, ordering that the hotel be handed to it within two months. It is to get relief from this order that the EIHL moved the apex court before the deadline of March 5 set by the High Court in its final order.

Hotel Wildflower Hall hotel remains one of the most prime properties of the EIHL and has a long list of distinguished guests from across the globe.

Built by Lord Kitchener in 1902, Hotel Wildflower Hall was being run as a high-end hotel by HP Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) before it was gutted in a devastating fire in 1993. It was then that the state government floated global tenders for running it as a five-star property. It was handed over to the EIHL for being run by way of a joint venture, ‘Mashobra Resorts Limited’. With irritants cropping up every now and then, the government issued an order on March 6, 2002, terminating the agreement on grounds of “breach of terms”. What followed was a legal battle and the Arbitrator finally giving an award in favour of the Himachal Government, which was challenged in the High Court by the EIHL.