On Friday, The Supreme Court of India warned the Haryana government saying that it will land in trouble if it has done anything with Aravalli forest area by passing amendments to an Act in an attempt to allow construction there.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta observed the matter.
Solicitor General(SG), Tushar Mehta, appeared for Haryana, and assured that he will satisfy the Supreme Court that amendments in the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900 were not done in order to help somebody.
During the hearing on Friday, Mehta informed the SC bench that the Assembly has passed the bill ,but it is not amended as an Act yet.
The Supreme Court bench told Mehta,”We are concerned with Aravalli. If you are doing anything with Aravalli or Kant Enclave you will be in trouble. If you are doing anything with forest, you will be in trouble. We are telling you.”
On Friday, March1, The Haryana government received a sharp criticism from the Supreme Court over its law to allow construction in the ecologically-fragile Aravali region. Upset at the Haryana assembly’s effort to overturn the Supreme Court’s ban on construction, the top court said it was sheer contempt.
Previously, on February 27, the Haryana Assembly passed amendments to the Act that opens thousands of acres of land to real estate and other non-forest activity.
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said that the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, was the ‘need of the hour’.
The amendment was passed amidst uproar in the House with the opposition Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislators demanding that the bill to be sent to an Assembly Committee for re-examination and scrutiny.
The Supreme Court of India, posted the matter for further hearing in the first week of April.