SC issues detailed verdict in Margalla Hills National Park case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Wednesday issued a detailed judgment on the commercial activities in the Margalla Hills National Park.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa, had issued the judgment on June 11, granting three months for vacation of all the restaurants on and around the Pir Sohawa Road.

The court had appreciated those who voluntarily agreed to remove their restaurants, as it will help preserve and conserve the National Park.

The court declared that the small kiosks situated on or around the Pir Sohawa Road may continue to operate provided they were licensed by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (‘the Wildlife Management Board’) and strictly abided by their terms of license, which must include collecting of all garbage generated by each and their respective customers and disposing it outside the precincts of the National Park and, if they were permitted to have a stove then they must also have a fire extinguisher.

For proper management of the National Park, the court held that the CDA shall assist the Wildlife Management Board whenever required. If an officer of CDA well conversant with conservation and environment is not already a member of the Wildlife Management Board, it would be appropriate that one is appointed as a member of the Wildlife Management Board. Moreover, since the World Wildlife Foundation Pakistan (WWF) came forward to facilitate the preservation and protection of the National Park, the government may also consider nominating it on the Wildlife Management Board.

The 25-page detailed verdict, authored by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, upheld the judgment of former Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Justice Athar Minallah.

The detailed verdict declared that on 11th September 2024, the Wildlife Board will take over the possession of Monal, La Montana and Gloria Jeans restaurants with the full assistance of CDA and Islamabad Capital Territory Police, and the entrances to the said area shall be barricaded.

Thereafter, the same shall be demolished with minimal disturbance to the wildlife and by avoiding damage to the trees of the National Park,” says the detailed verdict adding that the debris will be removed and disposed of properly, and not within the precincts of the National Park.

The court held that the Wildlife Board could then determine how best to utilize the mountain ridge on which stood the said restaurants, and it may consult experts and environmentalists to examine whether the foundations of the said structures should also be removed or the same be left in and used to make an artificial lake to collect rainwater which can be used to put out fires that erupt in the National Park.

However, under no circumstances should the building be left abandoned/derelict nor leave any debris on the said site,” the detailed verdict held adding that every effort should be made to ensure that the said land again becomes an integral part of the National Park.

The court further held that the Constitution opens ‘In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful’ and proceeds by stating that the ‘sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, therefore, it would be appropriate to conclude by reminding ourselves that the Creator has designated us as stewards of the earth with the responsibility to maintain balance and not to rupture the order of nature.

The court held that fundamental right to life, and to live it with dignity (respectively Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution) was to live in a world which had an abundance of all species.

“It has by now been scientifically well established that if the earth becomes bereft of birds, animals, insects, trees, plants, clean rivers, and unpolluted air and soil, it will be the precursor of our destruction, and scientific research establishes that nothing in nature is without value and purpose,” says the detailed verdict.