SC criticises Haryana Government for permitting construction in Aravalli hills

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court criticised the Government of Haryana for passing amendments to Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019, which allows construction in Aravalli hills. The court said that this will destroy the forest and so cannot be permitted.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta asked the state not to take any further action on the act and said it was shocking that the Haryana Government took this step despite being told by the apex court not to do so.

The Haryana Assembly passed the amendments to the law on February 27, 2019, which opened thousands of acres of land to real estate and other non-forest activity that were protected under it for over a century.

Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana said that the amendments were the “need of the hour”, adding that it was a “very old” act.