CHANDIGARH: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said that the government will review the High Court order for the attachment of Himachal Bhawan in Delhi and respond soon. Leader of opposition and former CM Jairam Thakur accused the government of mismanagement, financial irresponsibility and 'complete administrative failure'.
The Himachal HC ordered for the attachment of Himachal Bhawan due to the government's failure to return, along with interest, a premium worth Rs 64 crore paid upfront for the allotment of a 320 MW hydel project in Lahaul-Spiti.
The court order related to a previous non-payment of dues which have since escalated to around Rs 150 crore because of delays in resolution of dues.
The court has also directed the Secretary (Power) to inquire into the matter within 15 days as to identifying which officials have erred in returning the money to the company.
State government has moved court against order: CM
CM Sukhu said that the government will examine the High Court order and arrive at a decision soon.
"I have yet to read the order but there is a clause for forfeiture of upfront premium deposited by the power company, return of the Rs 64 crore amount is the decision of an arbitrator and the state government has moved court against the order," said Sukhu.
CM Sukhu was closely associated with the formulation of the Hydro Power Policy, 2006, according to which power projects are allotted on the basis of bidding and upfront money is deposited against the reserve price per MW.
State is making headlines for the wrong reasons: Leader of opposition
Thakur accused the present government of 'completely destroying' Himachal Pradesh. He pointed out that investors were unhappy with the government and have withdrawn investment in the hydro sector due to new policies introduced by the government.
"Whatever projects we have with the Union Government whether it is with SJVN, NTPC or NHPC, the agreements that we had made with them in the past, have also been questioned,’’ said Thakur.
"It is the failure of the government when 70 lawyers have been appointed as Advocate General (AG), Additional AG and Deputy AG, and have failed to defend the government. The state 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," he said.
Thakur added that it will not be surprising if, at this pace, even the Himachal Vidhan Sabha and Secretariat are attached, due to the state government's inefficiency. He also accused Himachal CM Sukhu of gross economic mismanagement of the state after the High Court passed the orders.
Financially irresponsible government, claims BJP
The leader of opposition and former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and Himachal Pradesh BJP president Rajiv Bindal shared a video message alleging that a prestige property of Himachal is on the verge of being auctioned because of mismanagement by the Congress government in the state.
"This is a matter of shame," said the BJP leaders, adding that the Himachal government has been moving from one embarrassment to another, referring to recent controversies involving samosas, toilet tax, and now, order for attachment of Mandi House Himachal Bhawan.
The leaders said the Congress government spent crores to hire lawyers to save its government than to protect the state's interests.
Seli hydro electric project case
On February 28, 2009, the state government allotted a 320 MW hydel project to be set up in Lahaul-Spiti to Moser Baer. Border Road Organisation had been assigned with the task of constructing a road leading to the power project site.
As per the terms and conditions, the state government was responsible for providing required infrastructure for developing the project.
Moser Baer approached the court in 2017 after several rounds of discussion with the state government regarding project feasibility.
In August 2017, the company sought withdrawal from the project and filed a petition in the High Court seeking refund of the the upfront premium worth Rs 64 crores as the government had failed to provide basic infrastructure.
In September 2017, the government terminated the letter of agreement with the company stating that Moser Baer had failed to sign the implementation agreement despite being granted extension.
Earlier this year, the HC ruled that the upfront premium should be refunded with interest.
