Court orders attachment of Jodhpur civic bodies’ offices

Jodhpur: Chaos erupted at both the municipal corporations of Jodhpur when a team of commercial court reached there for attachment of the offices for non-payment of dues to a company engaged in door-to-door waste collection. The payment has been due for the past 15 years despite directions from the court in favour of the company.The orders of attachment had been issued by the court on Tuesday, in compliance of which a team of the court reached the offices on Wednesday.Flustered by the development, the officials of both the corporations held a marathon meeting with the court officials and were spared only after the assurance of payment in 10 days.The officials, however, made an on-the-spot payment of Rs 64 lakh pertaining to some construction at the bus station, which also had been long due.According to sources, Kanak Resource Management Ltd. had been given a contract for door-to-door waste collection in the city in 2008 by the then Jodhpur Municipal Corporation.“Payment to the company had been due since then, which had accrued to Rs 18 crore in these 15 years including the interest,” said the source. Besides this, an amount of Rs 64 lakh towards construction at the bus station, was also unpaid to the company.The company had approached the commercial court to claim the payment in 2014 and the directions had been given to the corporation to make this payment.But this direction of the court remained non-complied by the corporation even in 9 years and the principal amount kept increasing.Finally, notices of attachment of the office had been issued by the court and a team of the court reached the office on Wednesday for execution of these notices. “The officials of the corporations made an immediate payment of Rs. 64 lakh to the company and have assured to make the balance outstanding in 10 days,” said the source.