NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today stayed a National Green Tribunal order on closure of a hotel at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh and directed that power supply to the establishment should not be disconnected.
The apex court had on July 11 stayed another NGT order directing demolition of temporary structures of some hotels with a rider that the alleged unauthorised constructions would not be utilised.
A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta stayed the tribunal's order till the pendency of appeals and directed that the power supply to Kasauli Regency and Kasauli Inn should not be snapped.
Appearing for the hotel, advocates Shyam Divan and Sumeer Sodhi said the tribunal had erred by ordering closure of the establishment.
They said the hotel had seven and 10 rooms in two wings and in their case, they had an statutory consent to operate.
The NGT in its order had directed demolition of the temporary structure of Kasauli Regency and had imposed hefty fines on several hotels including Bird's View Resort, Chelsea Resorts, Hotel Pine View, Narayani Guest House, Hotel Nilgiri, Hotel Divsikha and AAA Guest House for causing irretrievable damage to the ecology, polluting the environment and raising unauthorised constructions.
The bench listed the matter for further hearing on August 23.
The Society for Preservation of Kasauli and its Environs (SPOKE), an NGO, had last week opposed the appeal of the hotel seeking a stay on the NGT order and claimed that the picturesque Himachal Pradesh town was "getting finished" due to unauthorised construction.
On the plea of the NGO, the NGT had ordered demolition and closure of several hotels and resorts which were extended illegally without requisite approvals.
The apex court had earlier observed that norms were not followed in the construction of some resorts and hotels in Kasauli.