Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has stayed the decision of Seli Hydro Power Company Limited to return the upfront money of Rs 64 crore with 7% interest. The government had filed an application before the High Court’s division bench in this regard. Earlier, on the court’s order, the state government had deposited the upfront money of Rs 64 crore of Seli Power Company in the High Court registry along with 7% interest. This amount, including interest, was around Rs 94 crore. After the amount was deposited, the state government filed an application before the court, after hearing which the High Court has stayed the earlier decision to return this amount to the power company.
Earlier, a single bench had issued orders to return the amount to the company. After that, the matter went to the division bench. It is being heard by the division bench of High Court judges Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Sushil Kukreja. The division bench has accepted the government’s application and put this stay. Earlier, about Rs 94 crore, including interest, was deposited by the government, after which the High Court issued orders to put this stay.
It is noteworthy that Seli Hydro Power Company had filed a writ petition before the High Court and requested to issue an order to return the upfront money. On that, a single bench of the High Court, accepting the writ petition of the company, on January 13, 2023, ordered the government to return the upfront money of Rs 64 crore with seven percent interest. Then on April 28, 2023, the government challenged this decision before the division bench.
The division bench of the High Court on August 21, 2023, stayed the decision of the single bench on the condition that if the respondent (government) was unable to deposit this amount, the interim orders would be lifted. The government was unable to deposit the amount on time. On that, the division bench of the High Court on July 15, 2024, issued orders to remove the stay on the decision of the single bench. Then the matter took a new turn, and the single bench passed orders to confiscate Himachal Bhawan in New Delhi on November 18, 2024, on the company’s compliance petition. Also, it was asked to find out the officers guilty of not depositing the amount on time. The state government has not been able to find those guilty officers till now. For that, the government had sought additional time from the High Court, which was accepted by the court. At present, the government has filed an application after depositing the amount along with interest, on which the High Court has stayed the decision to return the money to the company.
The project was to be set up in Lahaul Valley.
According to the case, in the year 2009, the state government had allotted a 320 MW power project in Lahaul Spiti to the applicant company, Seli Hydro Power. According to the agreement between the government and the company, some facilities were to be made available to the company so that the work of the project could start on time. Due to a lack of basic facilities in the particular place to set up the project, the company did not find it viable and stopped the work of the project.
The company had deposited upfront money of Rs 64 crore for the project before the government. When the company could not start the project on time, the government seized the upfront money. When the company approached the court, orders were issued to return the amount of 64 crores to the government along with 7% interest. The government did not deposit the money in the registry of the High Court on time. On this, the company again filed a compliance petition in the court.
To ensure compliance with its order, a single bench of the High Court confiscated Himachal Bhawan in Delhi and asked to return the fixed amount of the company along with interest from its confiscated amount. To avoid confiscation, the government deposited the money. Then the decision of the single bench was challenged before the division bench. At present, the government may have gotten some relief, but it is yet to tell the court the names of the officers guilty of not depositing the money on time.
