HC orders attachment of Himachal Bhawan over government failure to pay power firm’s dues

The Himachal Pradesh high court on Monday ordered the attachment of the Himachal Bhawan in Delhi after the government failed to pay ₹64 crore due to a power company.

The court has also ordered the principal secretary of the electricity department to conduct a fact-finding investigation into the matter, so that the responsibility of those officers whose negligence led to this situation can be fixed.

The matter was raised in the context of the 400-MW Seli Hydro Project to be built on the Chenab river in Lahaul and Spiti.

Already in the arbitration, the state government had received an order to return the upfront money of ₹64 crore deposited by the company with 7% interest. However, because of the government disregarding the order, the amount along with interest reached around ₹150 crore.

The court had warned that the government would have to suffer the consequences if the amount was not deposited. It clarified that the amount is going from the state treasury, the loss of which will have to be borne by the public. Therefore, the company has been allowed to recover its money by auctioning the Himachal Bhawan.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has since accused the chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led state government of “destroying the state”.

While interacting with media persons in Shimla, Sukhu said the state would take appropriate legal measures on the court order, adding, “The government will advocate the case vigorously to protect the interests of the state.”

The CM said ₹64 crore was not a big amount for the state government but the case is being fought on legal grounds, adding, “Just as the state government is caretaker of all its properties like Himachal Bhawan, the officials and judges sitting in the judiciary should also be its caretakers like us.”

He added while passing orders like the attachment of Himachal Bhawan in Delhi, the court must bear in mind under what rules such orders are being passed.

Reasoning that the project was awarded to the company in 2009, the CM said the then power policy had no provision to refund the upfront premium in case the DPR is submitted saying the project is not financially viable irrespective of whether a company succeeds in setting up the power project or not. He added that under the then policy, there was a provision to pay ₹10 lakh per MW to the state but during the competitive bidding, Moser Baer Project Private Limited quoted ₹20 lakh per MW and deposited an upfront premium of ₹64 crore.

Sukhu said he was aware of the policy provisions as it was framed when Vidya Stokes was the power minister and he was an MLA who contributed to the framing.

A tripartite pre-implementation agreement between the Government of Himachal Pradesh, Moser Baer Projects Private Limited and Seli Hydro electric Power Company was executed on March 22, 2011 in respect of Seli Hydel Electric Project of 320 MW. In 2017 the company surrendered the project citing reason that the project was not financially viable and the Government cancelled the allotment as per the Policy forfeited the upfront premium.

Himachal Pradesh advocate general Anup Kumar Rattan termed the high court order as a normal routine process and added that it became news because the court mentioned the possibility of auctioning the Bhawan.

BJP blames Rahul’s ‘khatakhat’ politics

Former CM and BJP leader Jairam Thakur, meanwhile, accused the Sukhu-led Congress government of destroying the state. “The present government has destroyed Himachal and the way the investment that was going to come in the hydro sector in the name of the new policy and the people who were working in the project, all of them are unhappy with the Himachal government and are leaving.”

“Firstly, the government is not taking the court cases seriously and one after the other decisions are being taken in Himachal due to which the government is getting embarrassed. It is a period of financial crisis, it has been there for many years but because of this, the whole of Himachal is now worried that if Himachal Bhawan is auctioned, then in the coming time, the situation will be such that the secretariat may be auctioned,” he further added.

Delhi-based BJP spokespersons Pradeep Bhandari and Shehzad Poonawalla said on Tuesday that due to the “khatakhat” politics and economics of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi that the Himachal government has not been able to pay the due amount.

The CM, however, rebuked the BJP saying, “The state government was also successful in securing the HC decision in Adani’s case in favour of the state. But during the previous BJP government’s regime, Jai Ram Thakur did not even bother to challenge the adverse verdict by the single bench of the HC. However, the present government pleaded the case before the double bench, saving the state’s ₹280 crore.”

(With ANI inputs)