Punjab and Haryana High Court stays demolition in Nuh

Chandigarh, Aug 7 (IANS) The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday restrained the Haryana government from the ongoing demolition drive in Nuh district that witnessed communal violence last week.

The violence had led to the death of six people.

The high court headed by Justice G.S. Sandhawalia took suo moto cognizance of the matter and asked the state government to not carry out any further demolition exercise until further orders.

The restraining order is yet to be released and the matter will be taken up post-lunch on Monday.

In the past five days, the local administration demolished over 750 buildings, including houses, shops and other structures.

Officials claimed that the demolished structures were built on government land and were used by the suspects during the communal clashes.

Advocate Mohammad Arshad, appearing for the victims in the matter, alleged that the demolition drive has been ongoing in Nuh since August 3 without any prior notice to the occupants.