Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday issued an order allowing the sale of the state Bhavan in Delhi after Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s government failed to pay the electricity dues amounting to approximately Rs 150 crore.

The court also ordered the Principal Secretary of the Electricity Department to conduct a fact-finding probe into this matter, so that the officials responsible for the negligence could be identified.

The decision by the court comes after the Congress government led by Sukhu in the state ignored previous orders by the authorities where it was asked to repay Rs 64 crore, which now increased to Rs 150 crore due to a 7 per cent interest.

As per media reports, the case relates to the 400 MW Seli Hydro Project on the Chenab River in Lahaul-Spiti.

The high court had previously warned the Himachal Pradesh government that failure t pay these due would lead to serious consequences. It also asserted that the funds involved were from the state treasury.

With this latest decision, the high court has now allowed the company to auction Himachal Bhavan to recover the outstanding amount.