The Maharashtra government has received a legal notice for allegedly not paying Rs 1.5 crore to a Switzerland-based company for the hospitality services provided to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, during his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
On August 28, the contractor SKAAH GmbH claimed in a notice that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation had not paid Rs 1.58 crore of the expenses incurred by the delegation of Shinde, several ministers and state government officials during the event held in January.
The notice, which warned of legal action, was addressed to the state-run corporation, the chief minister’s office, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the World Economic Forum, the newspaper reported.
The contractor claimed that the company had submitted its bills for the services provided during the event to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. However, while the corporation, which is part of the state government, had paid about Rs 3.75 crore of the total bill, a balance amount of Rs 1.58 crore was due.
“All the payments were kept outstanding and pending on the trust in the MIDC [Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation] being a government organisation and in good faith, with the expectation of payment in due time and as agreed between the parties,” The Indian Express quoted the notice as saying.
It added: “However, MIDC has miserably failed to make the payment for the sum outstanding, resulting in substantial financial damage and harm to our client, our client’s credit, and financial situation”.
The state-run corporation is liable to pay the dues along with interest at 18% per annum, the notice added.
The matter was “impacting international relations between India and Switzerland”, the notice said, adding that a prompt resolution was needed to prevent further disputes.
P Velrasu, the chief of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, told The Indian Express that while he was not aware of the notice, the organisation would check the vouchers and take necessary action based on merits “at the earliest”.
The Opposition criticised the Mahayuti government for allegedly causing embarrassment to the state. The Mahayuti consists of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Rohit Pawar, a leader of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction, said on social media that “such insolence” by the state government could “tarnish Maharashtra’s reputation” and send a “wrong message” to investors.
This comes just ahead of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra. While the term of the Assembly lapses on November 26, the Election Commission has not yet announced the poll schedule.
State Industries Minister Uday Samant claimed that this was not a case of the Maharashtra delegation in Davos having overspent. “It is MVA [Maha Vikas Aghadi] MLAs who are making these allegations,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “Our legal team will reply to this notice and see what the issue is.”
The Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Opposition alliance, comprises the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Congress.
According to the August 28 notice, the visitors at the convention exceeded the designated number of persons for whom services had initially been offered. However, the company accommodated all necessary demands, it added.
“MIDC and its representatives have deliberately neglected their duties, responsibilities, and accountability towards our client,” the notice claimed.
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