The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued notice to the Municipal Council, Mandi to pay Rs one crore to the Electricity Board within two weeks and another one crore in another three weeks in lieu of non-payment of Rs 10 crore to the Electricity Board.
The Court also made it clear that this amount will be credited to the account of HPSEB and will be subject to further orders regarding the levy of surcharge. The Court also directed the Executive Officer of Municipal Council, Mandi to file affidavit, indicating the various source of income and expenditure.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary passed the order during the hearing of Writ Petition filed by Laxmender Singh against the Municipal Council, Mandi for not paying the bills of various street lights in Mandi town.
During hearing of the petition the Court found that the Municipal Council is not serious in making the available sources for generating income. The court also directed the Executive Officer, Municipal Council to file an additional affidavit showing the total numbers of residential buildings under the municipality and total numbers of commercial buildings in the municipality. The Court also directed the government and Director, Department of Urban Development to release the remaining grant of the third quarter within a month from today and the fourth quarter within another two months. The matter will be listed for further hearing on September 25.
