Himachal Bhawan in Delhi faces attachment as state fails to pay power firm Rs 64 crore

Himachal High Court has ordered attachment of Himachal Bhawan at Sikandra road in New Delhi for failure of the state government to return Rs 64 crore paid as upfront premium to Seli Hydro company.

The order was passed by Justice Ajay Mohan Goel on failure of the Himachal government to return Rs 64 crore paid as upfront premium by the company for being allotted a 320 MW hydel project in the tribal district of Lahaul Spiti in 2009. The government has been asked to return the Rs 64 crore along with seven per cent interest from the date of filling of the petition by the power company.

The court has directed Secretary (Power) to inquire into the matter within 15 days as to who are the officials who have erred in returning the money to the company.

The court has also directed that the interest amount payable to the company may be realised from the officials personally who are responsible for the non-payment of the money to the power company. The matter has now been listed for December 6, 2024.

It was on February 28, 2009, that the state government had allotted 320 MW hydel project to be set in Lahaul Spiti to the company. The work for construction of the road to the project site had been allotted to the Border Road Organisation. As per the terms and conditions, it was the responsibility of the state government to provide the required infrastructure for setting up of the project.

It was in 2017 that the company filed a petition in the High Court, seeking return of the Rs 64 upfront money as the government had failed to provide the basic infrastructure. The government forfeited the upfront premium paid by the company and has filed a special leave petition against the High Court order. The state government terminated the letter of agreement in September 2017 while stating that the company had failed to sign the implementation agreement despite being granted extension.

In a video message, former CM Jai Ram Thakur said it is very unfortunate that a situation has come where court had to order attachment of Himachal Bhawan, identity of the state in Delhi. “It is the failure of the government when 70 lawyers have been appointed as Advocate General (AG), Additional AG and Deputy AG, who have failed to defend the government,” he said.

He said Himachal is making national headlines for all the wrong reasons and every citizen of the state is hurt by the latest court order of attaching Himachal Bhawan.

Thakur also said that it will not be surprising if at this pace, even the Himachal Vidhan Sabha and secretariat are attached for the state government’s inefficiency.