HC notice to Pkl MC on plea against declaration of MDC as ‘holy area’

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday issued notice to the urban local bodies department Haryana and the Panchkula municipal corporation (MC) on a plea questioning the Haryana government’s decision to notify Mansa Devi Complex (MDC) area in Panchkula city as “Holy Area”, putting a ban on sale of liquor and meat products.Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj of the HC passed these orders while hearing a petition filed by Anahita Handa and 11 others who are running restaurants and other business establishments in MDC Panchkula.They have sought directions to quash the notification dated December 21, 2022 issued by the additional chief secretary, Haryana urban local bodies department, through which they had declared the demarcated area as “Holy Area” and have prohibited slaughtering within the said demarcated area.It has been contended that after passing the notification, the same was not being enforced by the authorities. It has only come to the notice of the petitioners that the urban local bodies department has affixed a billboard on April 10 saying that as per the Haryana government notification, Mata Mansa Devi Sectors 4, 5, 5-B, 5C, 5-D Swastik Vihar and Sector-6 have been declared as “Holy Area” and in pursuance to which sale and purchase of meat and meat products and liquor is completely banned from April 1 onwards.According to the petitioners, a conjoined/harmonious reading of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act 1994 would make it clear that the act does not provide for any provision to notify an area of part as “Holy Area” and nor does it provide for any provision to prohibit sale and purchase of meat and meat products in an area or part thereof. Moreover, the impugned notifications are also silent regarding under what provision of law powers have been exercised to declare the demarcated area a holy area and what does a Holy Area entails, the petitioners have contended. It has been contended that the petitioners’ restaurants/business establishments are regulated and have the requisite licenses issued to them for operating by the food and drug administration Haryana. These are validly issued licenses under provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, and all the petitioners are complying with the terms and conditions of those licenses, argued the petition. The matter has now been fixed for August 7 for further hearing.

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