Shimla, Oct. 16 -- Ending the nearly three-decade legal wrangling, the Himachal Pradesh government has finally emerged as the sole owner of the Wildflower Hall property in Mashobra - along with a financial gain of Rs.401 crore. The Himachal Pradesh high court, in its judgment on October 14, upheld the state's complete ownership of Mashobra Resort Limited (MRL), the joint venture once co-owned with the East India Hotels (EIH) group of the Oberoi chain. The high court has ordered that the state has become the sole owner of the bank balances, share holdings and 50% of the advance against capital of the joint venture company (JVC). Wildflower Hall is run by Mashobra Resort Ltd (MRL), in which EIH and state government had stakes but now the high court has held that state is sole owner of the company. According to the high court order, the bank balances of approximately Rs. 320 crore belonging to the JVC will be transferred to the state. In addition, the court has ordered the payment of Rs.25 crore to the state as per arbitral award. The entire share holding of EIH in the JVC will be transferred to the state for a sum of Rs.13 crore. Furthermore, only 50% of the amount i.e. Rs.68 crore will be returned to EIH in lieu of advance against capital of Rs.136 crore deposited by the EIH in the JVC, resulting in additional benefit of Rs.68 crore to the state. The MRL was previously the joint venture company of the EIH and the state to operate the Wildflower Hall property. A spokesman of state government said legal battle was sub-judice for almost 30 years, but due to intervention of chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the apex court vide its order February 20, 2024, transferred the possession and ownership of Wildflower Hall property in favour of the state. The state government subsequently completed the physical possession and ownership of the property on March 31, 2025. Earlier, in another case also, the Supreme Court has delivered a historic decision in favour of state regarding royalty from Karchham Wangtoo Hydro Electric Power Project. The court has directed the JSW Energy company to pay 18% royalty to the state instead of 12% from this 1,045 MW capacity power project, earning more than Rs.250 crore per annum to the state. CM Sukhu said state government will continue to protect interests of people of the state....