New Delhi, February 8
The owners of controversial Forest Hill Golf Club and Resort near Chandigarh today failed in their efforts to satisfy the Supreme Court to permit its immediate opening for all commercial activities and lifting the ban on the same imposed by it in 2004.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran was not much convinced with the stand of club owner Col B.S. Sandhu (retd) that after the October 18, 2006, notification of the Central government delisting 707 hectare of land from the forest cover, including the club land, made a strong case for lifting of the ban order.
“What are the new grounds in it for vacating the interim (stay) order on the commercial activities,” the court asked advocate Rajiv Dutta, appearing for Col Sandhu.
The court had banned the commercial activities on the club premises after the Punjab government had said that it violated the forest laws and environment norms as the entire land of the club had been declared a protected forest area.
On the face of strong objections from the Punjab government’s standing counsel Ajay Pal and Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) lawyer Bimal Roy Jad to Sandhu’s new application for permitting commercial activities in the club and the resort, Dutta sought three weeks’ time to come up with details about the change in circumstances to make a case for vacation of the stay.
As the club’s counsel tried to project that after the October 18, 2006, notification several of the Centre’s other commercial ventures, hotels, resorts and educational institutions have been permitted to come up, which made its case stronger, the court said this was not a convincing reason.
