Haryana's changes to land-preservation law draws Supreme Court's ire

Court stays implementation of amendment which took away forest cover from Aravali region in Gurugram, Faridabad

The Supreme Court (SC) slammed the Haryana government on Friday for making changes to the state’s land-preservation Act, and said that amendments brought to the law amounted to contempt of court. The SC also stayed the implementation of the Bill until further orders. 

“You are not above the law...legislature is not supreme. Sometimes, the Court also has to prevail,” a two-judge Bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta said.

The Haryana Assembly had on February 27 passed a Bill that made amendments to the Punjab Land Preservation Act, which took away forest protection cover of nearly 28,000 acres of land