SC stays Punjab & Haryana HC order on reopening of road outside CM Mann’s house
On April 27, the High Court had in its order directed the Chandigarh administration to formulate a plan to ease the traffic congestion by opening the 500-metre road in front of Mann’s residence on an experimental basis from May 1.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to open the road outside the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to public, after taking into record the Advocate General (AG) of Punjab’s submission that in recent years unfortunately, there was resurgence of terrorism and grenades being thrown at the intelligence building.
A two-judge Bench of the top court, led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, issued notice to the Union Territory of Chandigarh and stayed the High Court’s direction to open the road on trial basis.
It is to be noted that recently, on April 27, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had in its order directed the Chandigarh administration to formulate a plan to ease the traffic congestion by opening the 500-metre road in front of the Chief Minister’s residence on an experimental basis from May 1.
The High Court had ordered the opening of the said a 500-metre stretch outside the Chief Minister residence, on a trial basis from May 1 from 7 am and 7 pm on all working days.
The Punjab and Chandigarh administration had opposed the HC order and moved the SC seeking a stay on it. While staying the HC order, the Apex court, observed, “nobody wants anything untoward to happen. Issue notice. Direction on opening road on trial basis is stayed till further orders but the writ petition proceedings before the High Court can continue.”
The AG, seeking immediate stay of the HC order, took the example of the alleged killing of popular Punjabi singer, Sidhu Moosewala, and said that he was allegedly killed right soon after his security was withdrawn.
The Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Chandigarh administration, told the apex court that “the move (HC order) could have grave implications on someone’s life. This is playing with somebody’s life.”
It is significant to note that in 1980s, due to the insurgency and the number of increased terrorism cases and attack, the said road in front of Chief Minister’s residence was closed.
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