Villagers want High Court to quash UT’s merger notification

CHANDIGARH: Thirteen Chandigarh villages, which have been merged in the UT’s municipal corporation have moved the Punjab and Haryana high court to get the merger notification dated November 30 issued by the UT administration, quashed.

The high court has not issued notices to the UT and MC authorities on the plea and the matter has been adjourned to January 23. The court has directed the petitioners to submit the list of objections that they had submitted to the MC and its decision regarding the same.

The petition has termed the UT merger notification as illegal, arbitrary, void, without jurisdiction and against the provisions of Constitution of India, Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 as extended to Union Territory of Chandigarh and being totally contrary to the Resolution dated 21.11.2013 passed by the municipal corporation.

Advocate Baltej Singh Sidhu and Pawan Kumar Sharma told the high court that municipal corporation had on November 21, 2013 passed a resolution to include the area of 13 gram panchayats in the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation, Chandigarh. The resolution stated that the Chandigarh administration shall issue notification to the effect that the revenue estate as well as Abadi Deh area of all villages shall be notified to be municipal area and the provisions of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 shall be extended to the entire area and the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, shall not apply to existing construction.

The lawyers also added that a condition was also imposed that one more site shall be earmarked by the Chandigarh administration for the purpose of dairy farming, especially for the villagers and this area would not be included in the municipal area, on the pattern of previous one so that their source of livelihood was not affected.