ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), on Tuesday, directed the federal government to submit a report pinpointing those who allowed construction of a wall around Defence Complex, also known as the new general headquarters.
The IHC Chief Justice, Athar Minallah, who heard the case, directed the federal government and the Defence Ministry to submit a detailed report as to who ordered construction of a wall around the defence complex by the next hearing.
A visibly-perturbed Justice Minallah remarked from now onwards, not a single hut owned by a poor man will be demolished, adding everything belonging to the rich is regularised and also placed on the map, but problem is with the poor man who get no relief wherever he goes. He also reprimanded the officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), saying they have nothing to say in the court except claiming of issuing notice to this and that, which is not enough.
Ministry’s top official, QMG restrained from carrying out purported construction activity
Addressing the additional attorney general for Pakistan who appeared before the court, Justice Minallah said: What about taking action against those who failed to fulfil their constitutional obligation, while constructing wall around the said complex.
“You simply don’t care about the blood of the martyred who sacrificed their lives for the country…the law is violated every time, and those martyrs are disgraced,” he lamented.
The petitioner — a resident of Bairi Meera village, which falls within the notified area of the Margalla Hills National Park — has challenged the alleged illegal encroachment of the quarter master general (QMG) upon land around the Defence Complex in Sector E-10. The petition says that a specified area was allotted by the CDA under the Capital Development Authority Ordinance, 1960 for establishing the Defence Complex in Sector E-10.
The petitioner has attached photographs to the petition in an effort to show that the QMG illegally encroached upon an area of the national park by undertaking construction of a wall, adding the wall is situated outside the area allotted for establishing the complex.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021