Chandigarh gets rid of its ‘disturbed area’ tag after 29 years

Chandigarh, September 19
Around three decades after it was labelled a “disturbed area”, Chandigarh today finally managed to shrug off the tag, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing a notification to that effect.

The tag was given to Chandigarh in 1983 during the dark days of militancy in Punjab. The intention was to bestow special powers on the Administration, the police and the security forces for effectively dealing with militancy between 1981 and 1992.

Since Punjab was mostly under President’s Rule, Chandigarh was also brought under the Punjab Governor’s purview. He was, in fact, made the UT Administrator.

Punjab gave up the title in 1997. But nearly two decades after militancy was wiped out from the state, Chandigarh refused to let go the “disturbed” status. This was despite the fact that no major terror incident took place in the city after 1995.

As a petition filed in public interest on the issue came up for resumed hearing before the high court this morning, the Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain held that Chandigarh was no longer a disturbed area, as the notification had ceased to have any relevance in present times.

The Bench minced no words in holding that the Chandigarh Administration had failed to justify the relevance of such notifications in present times, particularly when no terror incident had been reported in the city for the past many years.

The court also observed chances were that the tag was acting as a deterrent for tourists. So many of them would obviously be reluctant to visit the city after finding it labelled on the Internet as a disturbed area, the Bench added.

The development is significant also because the Chandigarh Administration had, just about two days ago, made clear its intention of not withdrawing the notification declaring Chandigarh a disturbed area.

Appearing before the high court during a hearing on the petition filed by Janata Dal (United) president Surinder Bhardwaj, the UT senior standing counsel Sanjay Kaushal had claimed that besides accommodating government functionaries of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh was also catering to the security needs of protected persons actively involved in the fight against terrorism.

ADMINISTRATOR STAYS

• Though the “disturbed area” tag has gone, the Punjab Governor remains the Chandigarh Administrator
• The petitioner said after the issuance of the notification, the Punjab Governor was appointed the Chandigarh Administrator. But after 1986, no such notification was issued, he argued while seeking revival of the Chief Commissioner’s post
• The high court refused to accept the plea stating the relief was not even sought in the petition