Chandigarh, Feb. 23 -- In a decision with wide ramifications, the Punjab and Haryana high court has dismissed petitions seeking quashing of Chandigarh administration's 2023 notification, which banned conversion of residential houses into floor-wise apartments across the city.

The high court bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur and justice Vikas Suri, however, said the Chandigarh administration may reconsider the decision, but in consultation with the heritage committee onto the areas other than Phase 1, Chandigarh (Sectors 1 to 30). But this should be done strictly in terms of the prevalent rules and the Chandigarh Master Plan (CMP)-2031, it clarified.

In January 2023, the Supreme Court had ruled that the first 30 sectors of Chandigarh car...