Non-compliance of court order: HC orders salary attachment of three top Punjab officers
The officials include principal secretary, department of housing and urban development, Rahul Tewari; chief town planner, department of town and country planning, Prabhjot Singh Dhillon; and principal secretary, department of local government, Tejveer Singh.
'To the utter dismay of this court, despite the construction activity being stayed throughout the city of Kharar, no steps have been taken by the respondents towards compliance of the order passed by the writ court. Faced with this indifferent attitude of the respondents, let salaries of respondent Nos 1 to 3 remain attached till the compliance is made,' the bench of justice Harkesh Manuja ordered while posting a contempt petition hearting for September 23.
Omega Infra Estates Private Limited had moved a petition alleging non-compliance of the court's October 2024 directions. It was during these proceedings that HC had restrained all fresh or new construction in Kharar until a revised master plan is finalised.
The court, while passing this order, had observed that the last master plan for Kharar was published on May 25, 2010, and since then haphazard construction activity at large scale is going on in and around the entire area without taking into consideration the need for providing of basic and necessary amenities to residents.
It had further noted that the process of finalisation of the revised master plan in consonance with the Punjab Regional Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, has not been undertaken.
The contempt petition was filed in January after the government failed to comply with the undertaking given in October during the proceedings of a petition that demanded amendment in the Master Plan for Kharar, which was last notified in 2010. The plea had argued that the existing Master Plan, no longer reflects the ground realities and is therefore not implementable. It was disposed of as the government submitted that necessary action would be taken in eight weeks. But it was not complied with.
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