Supreme Court Allows Petitioners To Approach P&H HC With Their Objections To HC Order For Car Parking Space In Green Belt

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a senior architect and a Municipal Councillor of Chandigarh administration to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court to raise their objections to the order passed by the High Court on February 7 to create a four-wheeler parking space for the High Court.The petitioners contended that the directions will involve the cutting down of trees and would lead to environmental damage, affecting the heritage status of the HC building.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Sanjay Karol refused to entertain the Special Leave Petition filed by them and allowed them to approach the High Court instead.The bench said that it had earlier entertained a petition filed by the Chandigarh administration against the November 2024 order of the High Court for the construction of a Verandah outside the Court 1 of the Chief Justice's Court of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The said petition was entertained because the officials were facing contempt notices from the High Court, the bench said. However, the present petitioners were not parties before the High Court and hence the appropriate course would bee for them to approach the High Court, the bench opined.Justice Nath said: "We entertained the petition because contempt notices were issued and officers were summoned by the High Court...We will grant you liberty to approach the High Court for whatever grievance you have. Until and unless you are heard there and your cause is not considered, we will not consider this petition."Senior Advocate Manoj Swarup represented the petitioners. Petitioners Trilochan Singh Anand and Pallav Kumar Mukherjee contended that the High Court's directions would result in the conversion of forest land affecting the UNESCO heritage status of Chandigarh city. They pointed out that the heritage status of Chandigarh was recognized by the Supreme Court in Residents Welfare Association v UT of Chandigarh (2023)."The directions issued by the High Court regarding the development of Site, aimed at providing additional parking space within the High Court premises at the cost of environmental degradation, are in contravention of the law laid down by this Hon'ble Court," the petitioners argued.The High Court's direction was passed despite the objection of the U.T. Administration that the said area of kutcha parking is earmarked within the capital complex as a green belt/forest.Last month, the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court's directions for the construction of a verandah at the HC building after the Chandigarh administration raised concerns about the UNESCO heritage status of the building complex. The High Court's building is a part of the Capitol Complex designed by the famous French architect Le Corbusier. In 2016, it was designated as a World Heritage site.The High Court's order was passed in a 2023 Public Interest Litigation filed by the Secretary of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, Vinod Dhatterwal relating to the infrastructural development of the Court.Case Details: TRILOCHAN SINGH ANAND AND ANR.v. REGISTRAR GENERAL, HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA, CHANDIGARH AND ORS| Diary No. 8978-2025

Supreme Court Allows Petitioners To Approach P&H HC With Their Objections To HC Order For Car Parking Space In Green Belt

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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