Four days after the Chandigarh administration told the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) that its revenue officials found no construction at Kaimbwala village, located in the vicinity of the iconic Sukhna lake, a court-appointed local commissioner reported a “large number of constructions”, including new boundary walls despite a ban.
“We are amazed as to how the authorities have allowed such constructions to go on when there is a ban imposed by the division bench of this court,” the bench of acting chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor observed after perusing the report and videos etc.
The court was hearing an application in an ongoing case in which it was reported that authorities are permitting widespread construction in the village. The rampant construction is being allowed by digging trenches in some areas, the application had stated.
At the August 27 hearing when this application was taken up, the UT had submitted that revenue officials had inspected the area and found no construction. Following conflicting claims, the court appointed a lawyer as court commissioner to inspect the site and report the factual position.
During the hearing on August 31, senior advocate Amit Jhanji, along with advocate Himanshu Malik, appearing for the UT Chandigarh administration, submitted that the authorities would ensure maintenance of status pursuant to the court directions and no un-authorised construction would be permitted.
{{/usCountry}}During the hearing on August 31, senior advocate Amit Jhanji, along with advocate Himanshu Malik, appearing for the UT Chandigarh administration, submitted that the authorities would ensure maintenance of status pursuant to the court directions and no un-authorised construction would be permitted.
{{/usCountry}}Now, the court has directed the revenue authorities to file an affidavit identifying “the persons, who have actually raised construction of boundary walls etc, in violation of the court orders. “We expect that the authorities would ensure that the status as it exists pursuant to order of the writ court is maintained and no unauthorised construction is allowed in the area,” it added.
Sukhna declared living entity in 2020
In March 2020, the HC had declared Sukhna a living entity and imposed a slew of restrictions on various kinds of activities. The court had also imposed a fine of ₹100 crore each on Punjab and Haryana for causing damage to the catchment area of Sukhna and ordered demolition of all the structures in catchment area as demarcated by Survey of India in 2004. A review of this order sought by Punjab and Haryana is pending before the HC. It was in this matter that the application highlighting construction despite the ban in Kaimbwala areas was filed by a resident.
The matter will next be heard on September 10.