Shimla, June 28 -- The Himachal Pradesh high court (HC) has directed the managing director of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) to file a detailed affidavit disclosing the list of defaulting government departments and private entities who have failed to clear their outstanding dues. The directions were issued by justice Sandeep Sharma on Friday during a resumed hearing of a petition filed by Jai Krishan Mehta, seeking his retiral benefits from the HPTDC. The HC came down heavily on the HPTDC for its failure to recover full dues from various government departments and private entities, despite repeated notices. The case will come up for hearing on July 9. The HPTDC MD had on November 12, 2024 submitted an affidavit, informing the HC about Rs.1.68 crore pending at the end of various government departments as of August 31, 2024. The affidavit mentioned that recovery had been made till November 7, 2024. Besides, Rs.47.07 lakh was recovered from individuals and private entities. However, the court observed that despite that, the full dues, particularly from hotels or other commercial establishments, had not been cleared in entirety. "It is quite apparent from the statement made by the managing director, HPTDC, that the full amount, if any, due towards hotels... has not been received till date," noted the court. "The HPTDC managing director file an affidavit within a period of one week, detailing therein that how much amount is yet to be recovered... The MD may also disclose the names of the departments as well as private entities, enabling this court to pass appropriate orders," read the high court order. In November last year, the HC had ordered closure of 18 loss-making HPTDC hotels by November 25, 2024, by terming them as white elephants, citing persistently low occupancy rates and unsustainable financial losses to the state exchequer. In the same directive, the court asked the HPTDC to prepare a list of superannuated or deceased Class-IV employees to ensure that dues payable to them or their families could be cleared from the recovered amounts. In a separate order on November 12, 2024, the HC had mandated strict payment protocols for the HPTDC services, directing it to charge 80% advance for banquet bookings-particularly for private events such as weddings. The court further instructed that all dues, especially those pending from government departments, be recovered by November 30, 2024, warning that defaulting department heads could face contempt proceedings. The order was later stayed....