Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 19: The High Court today directed the Government to release the package amount in favour of hoteliers under the policy and guidelines of Government of India in their soft loan accounts for revival of their hotels and guest houses.
The direction has been passed by Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal in a case filed by the various hoteliers projecting therein that the hotel industry was exposed and subjected to fatal setback due to the eruption of unprecedented state of turmoil in Kashmir since 1990 and that consequent to the setback caused to the hotel sector due to militancy, the hotel owners in the Kashmir were put to peril and they were put to enumerable hardships and difficulties in the nature of recurring loss of income, overburdening of financial liabilities like loans, establishment and maintenance expenses and thus, in this backdrop the hotel industry has suffered a lot.
In order to combat the consequences of prolonged turmoil, Government of India has promulgated several schemes for revival of various infrastructural projects and with a view to achieve the said object by the Government to create employment for revival of tourism in Kashmir, a special package was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2003 and various guidelines were laid down and the package was made effective from the said date.
These hoteliers relying upon the aforesaid policy and the guidelines, submitted before the court that the package for rehabilitation by way of soft loan of Rs.50,000 per room, for renovation and refurbishing 50 percent of the rooms of A, B, C and D category hotels (except Five Star Hotels) was prescribed.
The policy and guidelines further provides that the Banks would provide loans to the hotels and Guest Houses and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, would provide subsidy so that the hotel and guest-house owners get the loan at 4 percent interest and the benefit under the said scheme as promulgated by the Government of India would be available at the rate of Rs.50,000 loan amount per room for up to 50 percent of the capacity of the hotels and guest-houses and the subsidy would be limited to difference between the principal loan released at 4 percent.
They submitted that their case is covered by the aforesaid policy, and thus, are eligible to seek the benefit coming in the category as per the norms. Justice Nargal allowed the plea of hoteliers with the direction to the authorities to release the entire amount of interest subsidy in favour of the petitioner-hoteliers through their respective Soft Loan Accounts maintained with their respective Banks, strictly in accordance with the terms of the Scheme, for revival of Hotel and Guest-Houses, as is provided in the guidelines of Government of India, Department of Tourism, within a period of two months from today.
With a view to fortify the claim, the hotelier owners informed the court that against the amount of Rs.1600 lakhs, only an amount of Rs.186.34 lakhs have been appropriated for revival of the hotels and guest-house and the total amount of interest subsidy released by the Government of India towards revival of hotels and guest-houses under the scheme, has deliberately been withheld and not provided to the hoteliers.
The counsel appearing for Government of India submitted before the bench that it was incumbent on the part of the erstwhile State Government to have placed indent before the Union of India for the amount to be released in favour of the lawful claimants as per the scheme and subject to placement of the indent, the amount has not been sanctioned by the Government of India.
The court has further been apprised that since December 2008, no interest subsidy had been paid by the concerned Department despite regularly being claimed from them on quarterly basis and the said interest subsidy has been claimed up-to June 2012.
Further stand of authorities is that since no funds were received by the Bank in advance and the interest subsidy claims were submitted on quarterly basis for reimbursement for credit in the respective loan accounts resulting into a huge amount of subsidy amounting to Rs.14.41 Crores unpaid to the Bank with the said Department up-to June 2012 and not having been paid since December 2008.
“To sum up, the underlying principle is that in matters of disputes relating to promissory estoppel with the State and their instrumentality there is no absolute bar to exercise the writ jurisdiction and the High Court should take a holistic view and make a determination as to whether it would be proper to exercise its writ jurisdiction. Admittedly, respondents’ authorities have not disputed the entitlement of the petitioner-hoteliers for the benefit as envisaged under the said scheme”, Justice Nargal said.
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