"I have not read HC order": CM Sukhu on Himachal Bhawan attachment order
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said he has not yet seen the High Court's decision to attach Himachal Bhawan in Delhi but has taken information regarding it and will review the order.
Speaking to reporters, Sukhu said, "I have not read the High Court order but 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 govt went to the High Court against the arbitration order and the government had to deposit Rs 64 crore in arbitration. I have taken information regarding the same and we will study about this type of order."
The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday passed an order to attach the Himachal Bhavan in Delhi's Mandi House after the Congress-led Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government failed to clear overdue electricity bills.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Advocate General Anup Kumar Rattan has termed the Himachal Pradesh High Court's order to attach Himachal Bhawan in Delhi as a normal routine process and added that it became news because the High Court mentioned the possibility of auctioning the Bhawan.
Speaking to ANI, HP Advocate General Rattan said, "This order of the High Court has come in an execution petition in which Seli Hydropower has filed an execution that the order given in their favour by the single judge should be returned the upfront premium of Rs 64 crore because the government has not deposited that money in the appellate court. Therefore, this order has been given by the Executing Court in a normal routine process. But this is becoming news because the High Court has said about auctioning Himachal Bhawan and that this property can also be attached."
Earlier today, Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Jairam Thakur on Tuesday criticized the Congress government led by Sukhwinder Sukhu and accused it of "destroying" the state.
Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, "The present government has completely destroyed Himachal Pradesh 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 Pradesh government and are leaving. Whatever projects we have with the Government of India, whether it is with SJVN, NTPC or NHPC, the agreements that we had made with them in the past, have also been questioned."
