Chandigarh:- The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the transfer of any property owned by Powercom. This decision of the High Court has dealt a setback to the Punjab government's campaign to sell government assets, while the employee parties of Powercom have felt relieved with this decision. It may be recalled that the Punjab government had identified some important assets of Powercom, out of which the 50-acre Badungar site in Patiala was also transferred to PUDA.
A public interest litigation was filed by senior High Court lawyer Baltej Singh Sidhu to stay the sale of Powercom assets, the next hearing of which is scheduled for March 16. The High Court had issued a notice to the Punjab government on this petition. A week ago, an application was filed on behalf of Rajbir Singh, seeking immediate entry of the court, arguing that Powercom has transferred 50 acres of land of the Badungar site to PUDA during the petition itself.
A division bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor today, while hearing the application, has stayed the transfer of properties owned by Powercom. According to the details, the maximum number of properties was identified by the Punjab government in Powercom, from which an income of about 1500 crores was estimated. The land of the thermal colony of Bathinda was also transferred. The transfer of the Badungar site to PUDA was approved by the Board of Directors of Powercom a few days ago.
The PSEB Engineers Association of Powercom and the employee parties had also started a struggle against the sale of the properties. On the other hand, the Punjab government wanted to raise revenue by selling these properties in the market.
The petition filed in the High Court has said that the electricity subsidy arrears of Powercom towards the Punjab government have exceeded Rs 10,000 crore and there are also arrears of bills worth about Rs 2,582 crore towards government departments. The petition cited the financial crisis of Powercom. Senior advocate Baltej Singh Sidhu confirmed that the High Court has today stayed the transfer of Powercom properties.