ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday rejected a petition of Islamabad Bar Council (ICB) and ordered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to demolish illegal offices of lawyers constructed on a sports ground in Sector F-8 of the capital.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed upheld the verdict of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which ordered the demolition of the chambers and vacation of the occupied ground.
On February 16, the IHC had ordered the CDA to demolish the chambers, observing that the lawyers and advocates who had allowed the building of the chambers “forcefully [took] the law in their hands.”
During the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Ahmed asked the petitioner on what basis should the court stop the demolition. “Lawyers have no claim on the football ground,” he said and added: “Those who want to practice [the law] should have their offices built someplace else.”
The court also rejected the request for additional time until some alternative arrangements are made and directed the lawyers to vacate the state-owned land.
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 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 Saqib Nisar.
