Chandigarh rejects Haryana’s land swap deal
Chandigarh administration however, open to selling the land to Haryana at the current market rate of ₹640 crore for its new assembly complex, officials reveal
The UT administration has rejected Haryana’s land swap deal for building the latter’s new assembly complex after finding that the land being offered to it does not align with its urban planning principles, officials privy to the internal discussions have revealed. The UT is, however, open to selling its land to Haryana at the current market rate of around ₹640 crore.
Haryana had offered 12 acres near Saketri, Panchkula, in exchange for the 10 acres near the railway lightpoint, adjacent to IT Park, in Chandigarh. The UT’s urban planning department later found in its survey that the land being offered to it is low-lying, has a natural drain (nullah) running through it, and lacks proper access.
In contrast, the 10 acres being offered by UT to Haryana is a prime property valued at around ₹640 crore.
A senior UT administration official said, “The 12-acre site is not suitable for our plans. Further, Haryana has no other alternative land available near Chandigarh to offer to us. So, the question of land swap does not arise. We are, however, deliberating upon offering the land to Haryana at the current market rate, which is around ₹640 crore. We have conveyed this to Haryana but are yet to get an official communication from them,” said a senior UT administration official.
Chandigarh had agreed to allot 10 acres of land of its prime land to Haryana in July 2023 for constructing its new assembly building in Chandigarh abutting Madhya Marg.
Currently, the Punjab and Haryana share the assembly in the Capitol Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where new construction is discouraged.
Political ramifications
The decision to allot land in Chandigarh to Haryana, which was carved out of Punjab in 1966, carries significant political implications. Political parties in Punjab have consistently opposed Haryana’s demand for a separate Vidhan Sabha within Chandigarh.
Former senior standing counsel for UT administration, Anupam Gupta said the UT administration’s offer to sell land to Haryana for its new assembly building could raise thorny legal issues. Such a sale by a UT to a state does not seem to fall within the scope and intent of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952, which governs Chandigarh. “It might also be challenged as a violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the central law that reorganised the erstwhile Punjab into present-day Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh,” he said.
Last year, a war of words broke out between the leaders of Punjab and Haryana over the land swap deal. The AAP government in Punjab had submitted a memorandum to governor Kataria, stating, “Chandigarh belongs solely to Punjab and not an inch of land will be allowed to be given to Haryana for the construction of its assembly building in the UT.”
Responding to this, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini had said, “I want to tell the leaders of Punjab that Haryana is Punjab’s younger brother. Why are they spoiling the brotherhood? First, they stopped SYL water and now they are raking up the Vidhan Sabha issue.”
Following this, Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had said that no land has been allotted to Haryana.
“We have not allotted any land in Chandigarh for the construction of Haryana’s new assembly. The proposal from the Haryana government has been pending with us for a long time, but we have not made any decision on it. Unless we decide, how can we proceed further?” Kataria, who is also the governor of Punjab, had said then.