SC upholds SHC verdict halting building construction near Askari-IV

ISLAMABAD: The Army Housing Directorate’s petition challenging the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision to halt the construction of a multi-storey building near Askari-IV in Karachi was dismissed as non-maintainable by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Athar Minallah, dismissed the directorate’s petition against the SHC verdict after finding it non-maintainable.

CJP Isa asked that when an institution does not exist under the law and the constitution, how can it file a petition in the top court. Earlier, accepting a petition against the construction of a multi-storey building in the parking area of Askari-IV, the SHC had ordered that the construction be stopped, following which the Army Housing Directorate had approached the SC to challenge the high court’s decision.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the SC questioned the directorate’s legal status. The CJP asked if the institution has any legal status, whether it is mentioned in any law or in the Rules of Business, 1983. He said that since the directorate has no legal status, it cannot file this petition.

The directorate’s counsel Abid S Zuberi argued that the directorate is a subordinate organisation of the Pakistan Army, which is an institution of the federal government. CJP Isa asked if the Centre can hire a private legal counsel’s services in its cases. Zuberi replied that in the instant case the directorate is a directly affected party. The chief justice said that if the directorate is a directly affected party, it can file an application through the federal government.

The CJP also said the Army Housing Directorate is neither a welfare organisation nor a corporation. He asked that if an institution does not exist under the law and the constitution, how can it file a petition in the SC.

The counsel contended that the directorate had come into being through a presidential order of 1982. The CJP asked Zuberi to cite the legal point in the presidential order.

The counsel raised the point that under Article 245 of the constitution, the army defends the country from external aggression on the direction of the federal government. Justice Minallah told the counsel to read Article 245, saying that the army has no business outside Article 245.

Addressing the counsel, the CJP said that despite being a senior lawyer, he is arguing on behalf of an institution that has no legal status. He made it clear that the court cannot entertain the petition of an appellant that has no legal status.