HC asks Haryana to explain why illegal structures under high-tension power lines have not been demolished

The Punjab and Haryana high court directed both states to notify rules for implementing the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 within 15 days and asked the Centre to decide on the Chandigarh administration's rules within 15 days. The court also gave Haryana five weeks to constitute a Mental Health Board as mandated under the law.

The Chandigarh administration sent its rules for approval to the Centre on April 21.

The central government approved Punjab’s draft rules for implementing the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.

The central government approved Haryana’s draft rules for implementing the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, during the hearing of the 2016 suo motu plea, directed the Haryana government to apprise the court why structures constructed without municipal sanction under high-tension lines have not been demolished. It asked for a detailed action-taken report on the 2024 letter and indicated the matter would be heard again on July 8, with the local bodies department to disclose why demolition has not been carried out.

In 2025, the state government filed an affidavit stating that structures in the buffer zones of high-tension lines are not eligible for regularisation, and that only 11 municipalities had responded to the department's communication seeking details of identified structures. The affidavit also noted that buffer-zone structures are private properties owned by the owners who purchased them due to their low cost.

A 2024 communication from the town and country planning department instructed local bodies to identify structures built beneath high-tension electricity wires and report details.

During a 2022 hearing, amicus curiae Anil Malhotra highlighted the alarming prevalence of schools, hospitals, and factories operating directly beneath high- and low-voltage power lines and pointed to the absence of a mechanism to grant or withhold permission for construction under high-tension lines.

In 2016, Raman, a five-year-old boy who had suffered 100% disability after being electrocuted by a sagging 11-KV transmission line over his house in Panipat, received myoelectric prostheses worth ₹50 lakh.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court initiated a suo motu public-interest plea in 2016 after taking cognisance of news reports that thousands of people were living under high-tension electricity wires.