HC stays closure of 9 HP Tourism Corporation hotels

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has stayed a single-judge order to close nine hotels of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) due to low occupancy.

The interim order was passed on Monday by a division bench comprising Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Rakesh Kaithala after hearing the appeal of the Corporation challenging the order of the single bench. The next hearing has been fixed on January 3.

On November 19, a single-judge bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel had ordered closure of 18 HPTDC hotels by November 25 after taking note of poor occupancy. However, on November 22, the court permitted the state’s tourism department to run nine out of 18 properties till March 31, 2025.

The HPTDC had filed an application praying for a recall or modification of the November 19 order and said the Corporation is taking serious steps to ensure that its properties are put to maximum utilisation. The counsel for the HPTDC had submitted that some of the properties ordered to be closed have certain obligations in the mode of room and event bookings and advances have been received from the parties. Residents of Hamirpur district held a demonstration against the reported closure of a charitable hospital run by Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Bhota area.

The demonstration was held on Monday after the sect put up a notice on the hospital’s main gate informing people that it will not be able to give its services from December 1.

Hospital administrator Colonel Jaggi (retired) on Tuesday said a notice has been put up on the gate following the orders received from the sect management. As of now, no written assurance has been received from the state government, he said. The 75-bed hospital located on Hamirpur-Shimla highway gives free medical facilities to patients and has been running since 2000. It caters to about one lakh people in its 15 km radius.

The final decision of the higher authorities would be communicated to the people in a day or two as the state government and the Beas management authorities are holding talks on this vital issue, the administrator said. The Radha Soami Satsang Beas has been approaching the state government to transfer the hospital’s land to its sister organisation but there are some issues under the Land Ceiling Act.