Punjab and Haryana High Court issues notice as 961 trees uprooted in Mohali; Society says land is private property

On being asked by the Bench to identify the location, the counsel referred to a map annexed with the petition and said the green patch in Sector 69 was being cut.

He claimed the land appeared to have been sold to private builders, though he said he was not aware who exactly was carrying out the felling.

Appearing for the society, senior advocate Puneet Bali opposed the application, contending that the land was private property forming part of a residential colony declared by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

He submitted that plots had been allotted after Sector 69 was developed and that the land acquisition proceedings initiated earlier had ultimately been quashed by the Supreme Court on technical grounds relating to compensation deposit.

The counsel maintained that the land had been in the society’s ownership since 1992, as reflected in the jamabandi entries, and had nothing to do with forest land or forest conservation.

He further told the court that many members of the Society were now in their 80s and had been waiting for over three decades to build on their plots. Construction activity had only recently commenced, he said, adding that the petition was factually incorrect and deserved dismissal with costs.

After hearing the parties, the Bench directed the issuance of notice and granted time for filing of replies, particularly by GMADA and the society. The court said the application would be taken up along with the main PIL on March 5.