India, May 14 -- The Nuh district administration on Tuesday suspended the sarpanch of Basai Meo village in a crackdown on forest law violations for allegedly enabling the illegal construction of a 1.5-kilometre road through protected Aravalli forest land, following the findings by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) submitted to the Supreme Court.

Nuh Deputy Commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said the sarpanch was suspended under Section 51(1)(i) of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, for "misusing his powers and violating forest laws". "We have taken the findings of the CEC very seriously. An illegal road passing through forest land cannot be tolerated. After preliminary inquiry and legal vetting, the Sarpanch of Basai Meo has been su...