IHC summons chief commissioner,CDA officials in contempt petition

Islamabad
A petitioner, Tanvir Hussain, here on Monday, through a contempt of court petition, contended before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the CDA officials were changing the original design of the grave of Hazrat Barri Imam despite the IHC restraining orders, dated June 19, 2014.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC, while hearing the case, directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) officials to appear before the court on January 23 to reply the contention raised by the petitioner.
The petitioner has cited the CDA chairman and ICT chief commissioner as respondents in this matter.
The legal counsel of the petitioner, Mujtaba Haider Shirazi, told this correspondent that the development authority has been making the original grave inaccessible for devotees visiting the shrine.
Last year on June 19, Justice Siddiqui, while granting stay orders, had directed the CDA not to carry out any construction work around the grave of Barri Imam. The CDA then filed an application for vacation of stay. On December 9, 2014, the IHC chief justice had directed that counsels from both sides should visit the place and any construction work should be done with mutual consent.
In the recent contempt of court petition, the petitioner adopted before the IHC that the CDA despite restraining orders is not going to halt its plans.
Tanvir Hussain told this scribe that he is from the family who used to take care of the Barri Imam shrine. His grandfather was the ‘kaleed bardar’ of the shrine. The shrine is very old and under the antique laws its original design could not be altered.
The court after issuing the order put off the matter.