The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday asked the state chief secretary to direct all the departments to pay house tax arrears to the Shimla Municipal Corporation within four weeks.
Taking suo motu cognisance, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice D.C. Chaudhary also directed the corporation to make effective recoveries from all the defaulters, including the residents, within four weeks.
In an affidavit, the corporation informed the court that it had recovered Rs.3.66 crore against the total recovery of Rs.5.50 crore.
"The house tax is still to be recovered from 557 defaulters, which includes six government departments, boards and corporations. The government departments owe Rs.50 lakh," it said.
The court listed the matter for next hearing on April 23.
