Punjab-Haryana High Court on Tuesday stayed the DC’s order of culling all the chickens in Panchkula, Barwala and Raipur Rani and destroying the poultry feed.
While hearing the petition filed by Haryana Poultry Farm Association head Darshan Singh and Narinder Poultry Farm in High Court, Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu issued the notice to the state government in this regard. The petition stated that the DC had directed the poultry farms of Barwala, Panchkula, Raipur Rani to kill all the chickens to control avian influenza (bird flu), considering the area under the alert zone.
The petitioners had sought cancellation of this order issued on January 11, 2020.
The petition also sought revocation of unlimited powers given to the authorities to control bird flu besides seeking fair compensation.
The petition stated that without any investigation, orders were issued to kill all the chickens in the area of one kilometre from the site of confirmation of bird flu. They said that this order was against the Animals Act, 2009. The petition also sought that the authorities should not destroy the poultry feed.
The petitioner states that vaccination can be started to protect the chickens from the infection. The association also told the high court that the current method of assessing damages is unfair and inaccurate. They should also be ordered to pay appropriate compensation.
