Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 11: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the constitution and report of a Bill Verification Committee that drastically reduced the dues of a Srinagar hotel hired to accommodate protected political persons, directing the authorities to clear the pending claims within eight weeks or pay interest at 6% per annum.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Rajesh Sekhri, the Court allowed the petition filed by Hotel New Metro, holding that the respondents could not dispute the hotel’s claim after admittedly hiring its premises for housing protected persons and deploying round-the-clock security.
The petitioner hotel had been hired from November 2020 for accommodation of protected political persons including Panches, Sarpanches and Councillors, initially at the Divisional level and later re-hired at the District level. While substantial payments were released for the earlier period, a dispute arose regarding claims for the subsequent period, where the authorities reduced the hotel’s bill of over Rs 40 lakh to merely Rs 89,736 following verification by a committee constituted months after the hotel was de-hired.
The hotel challenged the committee’s report as ex-parte and violative of principles of natural justice, contending that it was never associated with the verification process despite its premises remaining under continuous occupation and security control.
The court observed that the respondents failed to specifically deny the petitioner’s first claim period, which amounted to admission in law. Relying on settled principles under Order VIII Rules 3 and 5 CPC and Section 58 of the Evidence Act, the court held that admitted facts need not be proved.
Regarding the second claim, the court found substance in the petitioner’s argument that once the hotel was hired and security deployed, it could not have put the premises to any alternate use. The judgment noted that the Bill Verification Committee neither associated the petitioner nor provided an opportunity of hearing before slashing the claim.
Emphasising the doctrine of audi alteram partem, the court held that even a Bill Verification Committee must adhere to principles of natural justice, particularly when reducing or rejecting financial claims on grounds of inflation or irregularity.
Setting aside the Government order dated 05.11.2022 constituting the committee and its report dated 10.02.2023, the court directed the authorities to liquidate the petitioner’s claims within eight weeks, failing which interest at 6% per annum shall accrue.
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