Chandigarh, July 24 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has stayed construction and development activity in 16 villages falling in Mohali district's New Chandigarh, located in the Shivalik foothills and home to a large number of farmhouses. The high court bench of acting chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor also directed the government to ensure demarcation of forest land in the areas adjoining these villages as directed by the Supreme Court in 2014. "No further transfer or alienation of land by any mode, including general power of attorney/power of attorney, etc., shall be permitted in the said village(s), as we have serious doubts regarding the credibility of the revenue entries in view of the serious allegations of manipulation of such entries, whereby parts of such land have been declared to be private land," the bench ordered, warning of contempt proceedings if the directions were violated. The court further prohibited any further mutation entries, etc., in revenue records for the next six weeks or till the demarcation exercise concluded. "Shivalik foothills are environmentally fragile. Their preservation is of utmost importance for protecting the environment and ecology. The way the area is being allowed to be commercialised, without effective steps to preserve the forests, not only violates the mandate of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, but also reflects the state's failure to preserve the environment," the court said. The villages in question include Karoran, Nada, Parch, Sunk, Majrian, Choti Bari Nagal, Parol, Siswan, Pallanpur, Saini Majra, Dulwan, Burana, Gochar, Mirzapur, Tarapur, housing a large number of farmhouses of influential persons of Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. These villages fall under the jurisdiction of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, and are protected by the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The court was hearing a public interest litigation alleging violation of norms in setting up businesses in the Siswan area and government inaction. Initially, the matter came to court in March 2025, when allegations were levelled that a restaurant had come up on delisted forest land without requisite permissions and against the land use meant for delisted areas. Later, the scope of the proceedings was enlarged, and details were sought about other such properties in and around Siswan and Mohali district. Senior advocate Anand Chibbar said it was also alleged that demarcation of forest land had not been carried out. Some applicants have alleged that while adopting a discriminatory approach, some of the restaurants have been shut down in the area, yet a large number of other commercial activities have been allowed to flourish, with massive constructions being permitted in the area. They further alleged that officials were colluding, since many senior officers had managed to secure prime farmland located extremely close to Chandigarh in an area which was one of the most sought-after locations for developing an urban township in the country. In March, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) told the court that 35 FIRs had been registered in connection with widespread illegal construction of farmhouses on de-notified forest land. GMADA had identified 193 such violations. The court observed that given the facts of the case it cannot "shut its eyes" to the grievances raised. It has now directed the Punjab chief secretary to immediately constitute a team of forest and revenue officers to examine the old revenue records and determine the area of forest land as it existed on the date of enforcement of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, within six weeks. "Mere inclusion of an area within the controlled area under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, shall not ipso facto be the sole criterion for determining whether the land is 'forest land'," it said, adding that the chief conservator of forests would lead the team with an officer not below the rank of principal secretary. It further ordered that the entire revenue record of these villages would be kept in the safe custody of these two officers. The chief secretary will also ensure that copies of the revenue records of these villages are handed over to the registrar general of the high court within one week. The deputy commissioner has been told to remain present on the next date of hearing on September 14 with the record. The court found that in 2004, a club faced allegations of being established on forest land. The high court initiated suo motu proceedings and later the matter went up to the apex court, which in 2014 directed Punjab to determine the nature of the land in the area. It observed that Punjab has, till date, not filed any affidavit reporting compliance of the SC order....