SC asks: Why was DHA set up in presence of Army Welfare Trust?

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued notices to the Attorney General for Pakistan and other provincial law officers to examine the legal status of the DHA Ordinance 1999 and Chief Executive Order 2002.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja while hearing a suo moto case on illegal possession of 156 kanals of land by the DHA in Phase 7 of Lahore, raised several questions over the working of the DHA.
The bench also expressed serious reservations over the issuance of a notification by the DHA in 2009, wherein it has banned individuals from development in certain areas of Lahore. It said that according to that notification, action will be taken against the violators. The court observed that the notification was against the fundamental rights of citizens.
The court also pointed out that the Punjab government has also expressed its apprehension over the expansionist policy of DHA.
After going through the map and the DHA’s notification, Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that virtually, half of Lahore was DHA, adding that it was better to notify the whole Pakistan as a controlled area.
However, Asim Hafeez, counsel for DHA, admitted that issuance of the notification to declare the controlled area was not justifiable.
The CJ also raised a question that in the presence of the Army Welfare Trust, why the DHA had been formed.
Prosecutor General Punjab told the bench that the DHA possessed 152 kanals of land illegally and a case in this regard was pending in the lower court.
Justice Faez remarked that this act of DHA was maligning the armed forces as well.
Justice Dost Muhammad Khan said that this was a classic example of fraud. The chief justice remarked that the DHA had become a land mafia.
Shahid Hamid, counsel for Eden Builders Company, contended that under the Army Act 1952, no serving military officer can do commercial activities, adding that most of the DHA schemes are allocated for military officers and very less area has been allocated for low-ranking military soldiers. Later, the court adjourned the hearing for one week.