Road encroachment: IHC summons secretary defence

ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday directed the secretary defense and chief of another institution to personally appear before him on July 4.

He passed this order while hearing a case pertaining to the encroachment of 40 Kanals of land by the an institution on Shahra-e-Suherwardy in G-7.

A deputy attorney general (DAG) submitted before the court that time may be granted for removal of encroachments from roads and green belt, as the matter was already being discussed at the highest level. When the DAG requested the court to retrieve its order for personal appearance of secretary defense and head of another institution, Justice Siddiqui said: “Don't worry, we will serve them tea and hear this matter in an open court.”

“Before this a commando also appeared before this court and nobody said anything to him,” he remarked. He also directed TV channels operating in residential areas to shift their operations to commercial areas by August 1, as using residential areas for commercial activities was non-conforming use of the property.

Legal counsel for Bol News Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Rana Shahzad Khalid for NEO news requested the court to grant sufficient to do the job. The bench, however, observed that it was a fault of the channels, as no commercial activity could be carried out in residential area but despite that the entire setup was installed there.

Justice Siddiqui observed that the court had passed the order in 2016 and also issued a notice in advance but till the last date of hearing no steps were taken for shifting the setup. However, the counsel submitted that an alternative place for shifting had already been arranged and requested the court to grant some time for shifting as the general elections were just round the corner.

The bench directed the channels’ counsel and officials to put their signatures on the order sheet and warned that if the court order was not complied with, then contempt of court proceedings would be initiated against them.

The bench also directed the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, CDA and SSP Islamabad Traffic Police to appear before the court to apprise what steps had been taken to remove encroachments in G-8 Markaz and from street number 94, I-8, Islamabad.