Supreme Court orders removal of gate at D-Chowk

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the removal of a gate at the D-Chowk and clearing the federal capital green belts of illegal occupation.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard a case pertaining to conversion of a community plot into a commercial one. The court took exception to the encroachments and constructions in green belts and ordered their removal at the earliest and sought a comprehensive report from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) within four weeks.

The court also ordered removal of a gate erected at the D-Chowk so that Parliament building is clearly visible. The chief justice noted that a commercial plaza had been constructed on the plot allocated for a swimming pool in Sector F-6. “The Capital Development Authority (CDA) cannot change the status of a plot, allocated for the public interest,” the CJP remarked.

Submitting a report pertaining to progress made so far in the anti-encroachment operation, the CDA stated that the status of eight plots was changed. The chief justice, however, said there could be hundreds of plots adding that the whole design of the federal capital had been changed.

The chief justice further said that houses and commercial plazas were constructed in the green belts making one feel suffocated while entering the city. “What has been done with the city which was once a beautiful place in the world,” the CJP remarked.

The CJP directed the CDA chairman to find out a solution. Later, the court adjourned the hearing for four weeks and sought a progress report from the CDA.