Himachal Bhavan in Delhi attached by state High Court after Congress government failed to pay Rs 150 crore dues to an energy company

Following a hearing from both parties, the court directed the government to pay an upfront premium of Rs 64 crore to the corporation. However, the Himachal government has filed an LPA challenging the court's ruling.

On Monday, 18th November, the Himachal Pradesh High Court issued an order attaching Himachal Bhavan in Delhi after the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government failed to pay energy bills totaling over Rs 150 crore. The Himachal Bhavan is located at Mandi House in New Delhi.

In 2009, the Himachal Pradesh government awarded the Seli Hydro Company a 320 MW power project in the Lahaul and Spiti districts. The Border Roads Organisation was also dispatched to assist with the project’s road building.

According to the agreement, the state government needed to provide essential amenities for the hydro firm so that it could start construction on the project on schedule. However, this didn’t happen. In response, the company filed a writ petition with the High Court in 2017. The firm’s lawyer told the court that due to a lack of facilities to set up the project, the company was forced to shut it down and return it to the government.

During the proceedings, the court ordered the Congress-led administration in Himachal Pradesh to pay the company an upfront charge as well as 7% interest. It directed the Principal Secretary of Energy to initiate an investigation within 15 days to determine the role of officers in the non-payment of dues, and recover the amount from the persons. The case will be heard next on December 6th. 

The government, after this, seized the upfront premium. Following a hearing from both parties, the court directed the government to pay an upfront premium of Rs 64 crore to the corporation. However, the Himachal government has filed an LPA challenging the court’s ruling.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu commented on the developments and said, “The upfront premium is based on a policy under which, when the energy policy was made in 2006, I was the main architect. We had kept a reserve price per megawatt on which the companies had bid. There was a decision made by arbitration in the matter of upfront premium. Our government went to the High Court against the arbitration order and the government had to deposit Rs 64 crore in arbitration.”

The BJP, meanwhile, accused Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of gross economic mismanagement of the state. Shehzad Poonawala, the BJP national spokesperson, chastised the Himachal government for failing to pay their employees’ salaries and for economic mismanagement. Poonawala said that wherever the Congress has come to power, it has brought destruction.

“They (Himachal government) are busy investigating samosas and the situation is such that the Himachal Bhawan is now on the verge of being sold to pay the dues of power companies,” according to him.

The BJP spokesperson was pointing to a recent scandal involving samosas that went missing from an event attended by Chief Minister Sukhu. The incident took place at the CID headquarters when cartons of food destined for the Chief Minister went missing.

Criticizing the Congress for the development, BJP leader CR Kesavan further stated that party MP Rahul Gandhi’s unsound, unsafe, and strange economic ideas have turned out to have a disastrous domino effect on Himachal Pradesh. “As a result, the Himachal government’s economy stands wrecked and ruined so much so that they can’t even pay electricity dues to power companies… This shows the recklessness and the careless attitude of the Himachal government,” he said.

The court’s ruling came after the Sukhu government defied previous orders to refund Rs 64 crore, which has since risen to nearly Rs 150 crore due to interest.