Government has taken possession of Hotel Wildflower Hall, says Himachal minister; HC stays takeover of colonial-era property

The Himachal Pradesh government has taken over possession of the Hotel Wildflower Hall following orders of the High Court, state minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said on Saturday

The Himachal Pradesh government has taken over possession of the Hotel Wildflower Hall following orders of the High Court, state minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said on Saturday. However, hours after the state government's action, the Himachal Pradesh High Court asked it not to interfere in the property of East India Hotel's Wild Flowers Hall located at Charbra in the periphery of Shimla city, till the execution order is given by the court.

The High Court stayed further execution of the order issued by it on Friday following a petition and said "the respondent state shall not interfere in the day-to-day management and possession of the hotel". Himachal Pradesh Industry Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, who interacted with the media on Saturday, said the Oberoi group owed dues to the state government and the government has acted as per court orders.

"Hotel Wildflower Hall used to be the property of Himachal Tourism. An agreement was made with the Oberoi group of hotels, and there was a partnership. But in the last 25-30 years, they have not given anything to the Himachal government in terms of revenue or equity. This case was in court for a long time. Some time ago, the Himachal government won the case. Yesterday, the High Court gave permission to take over the Hotel Wildflower Hall," the Minister said. "In the morning today, officials of Himachal Pradesh took possession of Hotel Wildflower Hall...The hotel will continue to run normally, and further bookings will be continued in a normal way. The rights of Himachal Pradesh were protected by the efforts of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. The group was supposed to pay dues of nearly Rs 120 crore to the Himachal government... It is one of the best properties in the world, is a seven-star hotel...The Himachal government has acted as per the orders of the High Court," he added.

He said the Chief Minister took the decision to protect the interests of the state. Answering queries, he said the state government has taken over the management and the old employees will continue to run it. However, he added that a decision on who will run it will be taken by the Chief Minister and the government.

"Himachal government has taken steps as per court order. The High Court had given orders yesterday. The dues were to be given to the state government. The court gave orders that the state government can take possession of the hotel," the minister said, adding that the property is worth nearly Rs 500 crore. In its stay orders issued on Saturday afternoon, the High Court referred to the court order passed on November 17, 2023 in which "objections in execution petition No 5 of 2023 and Execution Petition 19 of 2023 have been decided".

Saturday's order said that while deciding the objections of parties vide order of November 17, 2023, "this court has specifically required the state to reveal its option" whether it intends to resume the property by taking possession in terms of the award or not. "The State has been granted time for such purpose till December 15, 2023, but the State officials are stated to have taken action by issuance of executive order dated November 17, 2023, and as a consequence thereof have initiated action by visiting the hotel premises in the morning of November 18, 2023, today," the order said.

"Since the execution petitions filed by both sides are still pending before this court, the Award passed by the learned Arbitrator has to be executed in terms of the directions passed by this Court and not by the parties themselves. In this view of the matter, further execution of order dated November 17, 2023, shall remain stayed till further orders," it added. The court has listed the matter for hearing on November 21.

The High Court had in October last year, dismissed an appeal filed by EIH Ltd (East India Hotel Ltd) and others against the State of HP and others in a dispute pertaining to Hotel Wildflower Hall. Wildflower Hall was owned by Lord Kitchener. Hotel Wildflower Hall was being run as a hotel by HP Tourism Development Corporation but a fire gutted it in 1993.

Officials said it was handed over to the EIH for being run by way of a joint venture but the government terminated the agreement in 2002. The two parties have been engaged in long litigation. (ANI)

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