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GMADA seals BJP leader Devinder Babla’s farmhouse in Mohali
The four-acre farmhouse was built without building plan approval and was being used for illegal commercial activity, says GMADA
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) on Monday sealed Chandigarh BJP state vice-president Devinder Singh Babla’s four-acre farmhouse in Mullanpur’s Parol village for illegal commercial activity.
According to GMADA, Babla raised the structure without getting the building plan approved from the competent authority. A notice in this regard was also issued in January.
“Since the violator to whom a show-cause notice was issued under provisions of the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, and the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, is doing commercial activity in Parol village under the garb of eco-tourism approval and has raised a building without approval of building plan from the competent authority, his farmhouse is ordered to be sealed at the first instance,” said the order issued by the development authority.
GMADA chief administrator Rajiv Kumar Gupta could not be reached for a comment.
Terming the move a political vendetta, Babla said he received no notice.
“GMADA enforcement staff, along with Punjab Police sealed my residential property ‘Darshan Bagh’ in Parol village without serving me any prior notice. This is abuse of state machinery by the AAP government as I refused to compromise my political career by joining AAP,” he alleged.
Babla had served the Congress for over three decades before he, along with his wife, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2022, days after a verbal spat with then Chandigarh Congress president Subhash Chawla.
Talking to HT, Babla claimed that he never used his farmhouse for commercial activities. “GMADA had recently also sealed Dhillon Farm located behind my property, but had to remove the seal following court’s order. I will also move court against the ‘government’s political vendetta and harassment’. I asked GMADA to show me pictures of the alleged commercial activities, but they couldn’t produce any. They have locked my employees, four horses and birds inside,” he said.
He further claimed that he was paying the price for being vocal in the recent Chandigarh mayoral elections.
