ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to demolish the “illegal” chambers built for lawyers on a sports ground in Sector F-8 of the capital.
In 2013, the lawyers had planned to build their offices on the football ground and obtained a judicial order from a civil judge. However, after resistance by local traders, the CDA demolished some 30 under-construction chambers. But failed to retrieve almost half of the land occupied by lawyers.
Later in 2017, lawyers from the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) resumed construction before being stopped. The following year, construction resumed once again but came to a halt following a suo motu notice taken by then-Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.
Tuesday’s verdict was announced by a four-judge bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.
In the written order, authored by Justice Minallah, the high court said lawyers and advocates who had allowed the building of the chambers “forcefully [took] the law in their hands.”
“The facts of this case are disturbing because the conduct of a few enrolled lawyers has caused reputational damage to the entire legal fraternity.”
The court observed the encroachment on the ground had begun in 2013 and due to a restraining order passed by district courts as well as an injunction, the civic body’s efforts to demolish the structures were halted.
Furthermore, office-bearers of the Islamabad District Bar Association (IDBA) had allotted plots to some lawyers for the construction of private chambers without any authorisation from concerned authorities.
The high court expressed hope that members of the IDBA will clear the ground and “restore the playground for public use”.
The court further said that the federal government and the CDA would be bound to clear the ground before March 23 if the lawyers fail to do so.
In addition, the government will also hold a football match between students on the ground on March 23, the verdict said.
The court also directed the government to “commence and complete the construction of the state of the art complex of district courts without unnecessary delay.”
Meanwhile, the IDBA will be able to submit its proposal to the CDA for “approval in relation to the Lawyers Plot, i.e., five-acre plot separately allotted by the federal government for the use of the lawyers.”
“We expect that the federal government will ensure that the state-of-the-art judicial complex is made functional before the next Pakistan Day, i.e., 23rd of March, 2022.”
