Encroachments in Capital: IHC summons defence secretary on June 22

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday directed secretary Ministry of Defence to personally appear before it on June 22 to explain under what authority the sensitive institution had encroached upon 40 Kanal land in G-7 Sector in the federal capital when admittedly it was not the Cantonment area.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui also directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to explain under what law they had surrendered the area to the institution which clearly was an encroachment.

The bench issued a written order in connection with its Wednesday’s order wherein it had directed the CDA to indiscriminately remove encroachments from the federal capital whether done by security agencies or media houses who were operating from residential areas and involved in non-conforming use of properties. In the written order, the bench said that it was a matter of great concern that a sensitive institution raised a structure to encroach about 40 kanals of land The bench further said that due to this illegal act, the general public is continuously suffering, esthetic fiber of the Capital compromised, which otherwise was bringing a bad name to the institution.

The bench issued this order while hearing identical petitions against encroachments in Islamabad. It also directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to clear the service road that it had occupied on the pretext of security at its Iqbal Town office.

About the media houses operating from the residential areas and non-conforming use of property, a director of Enforcement Department of CDA informed the bench that 20media houses were operating from residential areas of which five had stopped this activity, while 15 others had been served notices.

Deputy commissioner, Islamabad told the court that they had prepared a schedule for anti-encroachment drives in a meeting with chief commissioner. SSP operations Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police told the court that 30 police officials and one inspector had been permanently sent on deputation to the CDA for operations against encroachments.

The bench has directed the SSP to ensure that the strength of police remains available for these operations and if required he should also provide ATS personnel for the purpose. Further hearing will be on June 22.