Chandigarh, Aug. 10 -- The land pooling policy appears to have been notified in a "haste" and concerns, including social impact assessment, environmental issues, timelines and grievance redressal mechanism, should have been addressed at the very outset before its announcement, the Punjab and Haryana high court has said while staying the scheme announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for "planned urban development".

The bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Deepak Manchanda noted that the land which is sought to be acquired is amongst the most fertile land in the state and it is possible that it may impact the social milieu. ".the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 bars the acquisition of multi-cropped land. Such...