Morni hills demarcation: HC seeks appointment orders of field staff

The orders were passed as court was informed by the designated demarcation authority that inexperienced and those without requisite qualifications have been appointed by the state government

Chandigarh The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday asked Haryana government to submit appointment orders of field staff appointed for the demarcation exercise of Morni Hills area.

Morni Hills was formerly a part of the Sirmaur district, in Himachal Pradesh and became a part of Haryana in 1966 (Ht Photo)

The orders were passed as court was informed by the designated demarcation authority that inexperienced and those without requisite qualifications have been appointed by the state government.

The bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sumeet Goel said “Learned additional advocate general, Haryana, is directed to file appointment orders of ten Patwaris, one Kanungo and one naib tehsildar, who according to learned counsel for the applicant are not even trained,” while posting the matter for hearing for March 18.

The court was hearing a PIL filed in 2017 by Vijay Bansal, a Panchkula resident, who had demanded settlement of the Morni Hills area as prescribed under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.

The area was formerly a part of the Sirmaur district, in Himachal Pradesh and became a part of Haryana in 1966. In December 1987, the government issued a notification of reserved forest area. However, the process of demarcation has not been completed even now. The government has been facing allegations of dilly-dallying on settlement exercise.

In June 2025, the high court had given the Haryana government time till December 31 to identify and notify reserved forest areas in Morni Hills.

As per Bansal, the demarcation process has been pending since 1987, which has threatened the ecological system of this area from Panchkula to Kala Amb in Himachal.