Kathmandu, April 8
The Pashupati Area Development Trust, the government authority governing the religious Pashupati area, has padlocked the Hotel Anand, a hotel operated by Batas Group at a property owned by the trust.
Recently, the trust has terminated the contract that allowed the business conglomerate to operate the hotel there, but the company has not accepted this.
Today also, the trust officials had gone to the hotel to give them the notice to vacate the property, but the hotel staff did not allow the officials to enter the premises. Following that, the officials padlocked the main entrance of the property.
The Batas Group has asked the trust to wait for some more time as it has filed a case at the Patan High Court demanding a right to run the hotel there. But, the trust officials today insisted they should be allowed to check the status of their property.
After the media reported how Batas Group, a Nepal conglomerate, is misusing Indian aid meant for pilgrims for moneymaking, the trust had launched an investigation into the case. A team commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had suggested the trust scrap the deal.
Accordingly, the trst had terminated the contract.
