HC slaps Rs 10,000 fine on state
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 22
Failure to file reply has cost Haryana dear in the Gurgaon and Faridabad ammunition depots case. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the state for not filing its reply.

The High Court also asked the authorities concerned to file minutes of meeting on the issue. The Bench was told that the ammunition depots in Gurgaon and Faridabad could not be shifted.

The High Court has already rejected the pleas for electricity and water meter connections for houses constructed in the restricted 900-metre zone around the IAF ammunition depot in Gurgaon.

The orders came during the resumed hearing of an ongoing petition filed in public interest against encroachments in prohibited zones around the IAF stations in Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Appearing before the High Court, some residents, who had constructed houses in the prohibited zone near the IAF’s ammunition depot, sought directions to the authorities concerned to provide them with power connections on the ground of right to equality.

They argued that a large number of residents, who had raised constructions in the restricted zone, have already been granted electricity and water connections. But, now the authorities have refused to grant them the facility.

Counsel for the Union of India, Onkar Singh Batalvi, told the Bench that encroachments in the prohibited zones in Gurgaon and Faridabad had been removed.

The matter had reached the High Court after a public interest litigation was filed by Suersh Goyal of Faridabad. He was seeking removal of constructions from the 100-metre area around IAF Station, Dabua, in Faridabad, as it was a protected zone under the Work of Defence Act. The High Court had also taken cognizance of a similar matter of on the construction activities within the restricted 900-metre zone in Gurgaon.

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