P’kula MC to seal govt offices for failure to pay property tax

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, February 7 

The Municipal Corporation (MC) is likely to seal offices of various government departments, including Haryana Police Headquarters, Haryana Public Service Commission and Mini Secretariat, Sector 1, Panchkula, and the Court Complex, as they have failed to deposit property tax for the current financial year. 

The MC will soon issue notices to these departments and if they fail to deposit the property tax, the civic body will initiate the process to seal these offices. 

Shalimar Mall, which is lying closed for the past few years, is the main defaulter. It tops the list of defaulters with an outstanding property tax of more than Rs 68 crore. 

Many hotels and gymkhana clubs are also on the radar of the civic body. The Municipal Corporation Administrator-cum-Commissioner, Rajesh Jogpal, has made it clear that it is the responsibility of the owners to deposit the property tax. 

He said it had become a tendency of property owners to deposit tax after the MC issued notices to them. “This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated at any cost. The sealing process will begin from the next week,” he added. 

The MC has prepared a list of defaulters, which includes various government buildings, hotels, educational institutions and industrial units in the district. 

The MC Administrator said property tax was being levied on all government as well as private properties. Notices would be sent soon and if property owners failed to deposit the tax, action would be taken as per law.