Chandigarh, Feb. 3 -- The Punjab and Haryana High Court rapped Haryana state authorities on Saturday over, what it said was, "blatant violation of environmental norms" and "the loot and plunder of natural resources" at a stone mining sitein the Charkhi Dadri area of the Aravallis.

Observing that, "At this stage, we cannot rule out connivance on the part of the responsible officers who were entrusted with the duty to ensure compliance of laws," the court directed the Haryana chief secretary to examine "extent of environmental plundering" and fix accountability in violation of mining norms in the area.

In an order on Saturday, the two-judge benchof justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Rohit Kapoor further said, "Unfortunate aspect noticed by...