LHC seeks Liberty Parking Plaza’s land record

LAHORE – Lahore High Court Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on Tuesday directed the Punjab government and the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to submit the original land map of Liberty Parking Plaza to ascertain whether or not the plaza has been constructed on the site of a public park or not.
On behalf of the LDA and the Punjab government, Khawaja Saeed Zafar submitted a reply, which said Liberty Parking Plaza has been constructed on non-utilized land and there was no park at all at the site as claimed by the petitioners.
The petition had been moved by six shop owners of the Liberty Market, through their counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique who submitted that the plaza has been erected on the land allocated for a park and its status could not be changed in view of the rules and decisions of the superior judiciary. They alleged that the recent digging of roads nearby their shops and around the plaza was a serious blow to their businesses and prayed the court for an interim stay against it.
Saeed told the court that the plaza has been constructed at a cost of Rs 670 million and provided parking for about 300 cars besides adding to the beautification of the city. He said that LDA was the land’s owner while a 13-marla land of the plaza was purchased from United Christian Hospital against a payment of Rs 50 million. He also claimed that traders of the area did not raise any objection to construction when the plaza’s construction started.
Siddique refuted Saeed’s claims, terming them ‘white lies’, and asserted that Parks and Horticulture Agency (PHA) took control of the recreational park after it was established in 1998. He prayed the court to ask the LDA’s counsel to say the same on oath and then Siddique will submit proof that the site was a public park and LDA unlawfully permitted plaza’s construction.
Upon this judge warned the LDA’s counsel and said that criminal cases will be registered against the LDA and the Punjab government if it is established at any stage that parking plaza had been built on the spot of a park. Siddique told the court that traders have been protesting against the plaza since day one but the LDA paid no attention.
The judge thus sought the record including land maps by April 15 to decide the issue that caused the traders to protests.
PETITION SEEKS IMPLEMENTATION OF PAY INCREASE ORDERS: LHC Additional Registrar Riaz Ali Zaidi has filed a writ petition in court against the Punjab government for not giving a 50-percent increase in the basic pay of the high court’s employees. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed will take up this petition on Wednesday (today).
The petitioner submitted that the basic salaries of the government employees were increased by 50 percent in the federal budget 2010-11. He said on the prime minister’s direction, the federal law ministry also issued a notification in this regard. He pointed out that except Punjab, all provincial governments had implemented the notification and employees of all three high courts and Islamabad High Court were being given the said increase in their basic pay, but the Punjab government had not implemented the notification despite repeated reminders.
ACCORD TEXTILE MILL’S AUCTION ORDERED: LHC Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on Tuesday ordered for the auction of ‘Accord Textile Mill’ of former federal minister Khalid Kharal to clear bank liabilities.
The judge issued this order on the petition of Habib Bank Limited seeking recovery of a Rs 250 million loan sanctioned to the mill but never returned. The mill administration had requested the court that the auctioned price of the mill should be at least Rs 500 million, however, the bank pleaded that the market value of the mill was not even half of that price. The judge allowed the bank to auction the mill as per market price. The auction will be held on April 16.