Chandigarh, Nov. 13 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday sought response from the Haryana government on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 16 and 17 of the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, which petition alleged that the law unlawfully delegated coercive sovereign powers to private individuals and vigilante groups.

The petition has been filed by National Federation of Indian Women, a Delhi based group through advocate Arjun Sheoran. The high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry has sought response by January 14.

As per the plea, the impugned provisions permitted "any person authorised by the government" to exercise powers of search, seizure and ...