Cops descend on Wildflower Hall
Govt told to maintain status quo
S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service
Charabra (Shimla), March 13
Tension mounted in the controversial Wildflower Hall here this evening as a busload of policemen descended on the hotel following the Delhi-based company Law Board ordering the government to maintain a status quo until the next hearing of the case on March 18.
The entire staff of the hotel gathered in the lobby and the manager and the lawyer apprised the police and the government-appointed management of the orders of the board.
The government and the staff of the Oberois gave conflicting versions of the incident. While the former claimed that it had taken over the control of the hotel since March 8, Mr Andrew Saldanha, General Manager (GM), said they were in control of the property.
The staff, which had been recruited by the joint venture of Mashobra Resorts, was manning the telephone exchange and the main reception. However, some officials of the HPTDC were sitting nearby and they claimed that the reception was being manned by them.
The order of the law board had been faxed to the hotel management from Delhi at about 5 p.m. which prevented the authorities from taking further action for the time being.
Mr Saldanha said earlier in the afternoon that the government-appointed Executive Director, Mr S.K. Baldi, asked him to vacate his office for Mr Ajay Thakur, AGM of the HPTDC, whom he had appointed as the GM. However, Mr Saldanha did not oblige as there were no court orders to this effect.
The SDM (Shimla — Rural) today filed an FIR with the police against the lawyer of the hotel and some others for allegedly obstructing him from performing his official duty. The management too has filed an FIR in which the SDM has been named.
The lawyer said he had obtained anticipatory bail.
The order of the board, which has come as a shot in the arm of the Oberois, said the respondent were being granted time till March 18 to obtain instructions and file a short affidavit to the application for interim prayers. In the facts and circumstances of the case and the urgency pointed out, it is hereby ordered that till the next date of hearing the respondents will maintain status quo as of date in respect of the composition of the board of directors as well as in respect of the movable and immovable assets of the respondent company.
On the other hand, a spokesman for the government claimed in the evening that the Company Law Board had refused to grant relief to the East India Hotels (Oberoi) group which had filed a petition to restore status quo ante. The board had instead ordered status quo till the next hearing on March 18.
He said the room of the company secretary was sealed by the SDM on March 11 after observing the process of law. The staff of the hotel cooperated with the management from March 8 to March 10 in all respects, but, however, on March 11 the general manager and some other employees turned hostile, he alleged.He also alleged that the employees even broke one of the seals already affixed by the SDM.
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