Takhtpari land allotment case: CJ asks Pervaiz Elahi to submit reply to implementation bench

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed three review petitions filed against its judgment that declared Bahria Town’s encroachment upon Takhtpari, Islamabad forest land as illegal.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, resumed hearing of three review petitions filed by Bahria Town management against the court judgment.

After hearing Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and Ali Zafar, counsel for Bahria Town, the apex court dismissed all the three review petitions.

Two of the petitions pertained to Takhtpari forest land and one to the New Murree Project near Islamabad. The court referred the matter to a three-member implementation bench of the apex court in Bahria Town Karachi case judgment headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed. Similarly, the court also directed former chief minister of Punjab and current Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to submit his reply to the said implementation bench.

The court had summoned Pervaiz Elahi for approving the demarcation of Takhtpari forest land as well as allotting some of the land to his near and dear ones. The court asked him to explain under what authority he had ordered demarcation and issued him a notice.

Elahi appeared before the court and submitted that the matter was 13-year-old and he didn’t have the instant record in this regard.

The chief justice, however, said the court will provide him with a copy of judgment delivered in the instant matter and he could file a reply after going through the judgment.

The chief justice asked Elahi under what authority he had ordered demarcation of forest land and transferred some of the land to his near and dear ones after demarcation.

The chief justice said the court had given its findings against him and read out a portion of the judgment related to him stating that the court had ordered the forest department to conduct a fresh survey of the forest besides constituting an implementation bench to protect the third party interest.

The chief justice further told Elahi that the court had also directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file a reference against those involved in the matter.