Lahore becomes barrier-free as authorities act on SC orders

• Citizens relieved after removal of barricades, applaud SC for getting rid of barriers
• CJP takes suo motu notice of Punjab police encounters

LAHORE: The city authorities on Sunday started removing the barricades placed outside the residences of various politicians, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and government offices after the Supreme Court ordered the city admin to remove these barriers by Sunday midnight.

As the authorities removed these barricades, Lahorittes heaved a sigh of relief as these had been making their lives as well commuting miserable. Furthermore, these barriers were one of the major causes of traffic jams and congestion in the city.

Talking to Pakistan Today, area residents of Anarkali said that they were suffering from a number of problems due to ongoing construction work on Orange Line Metro Train Project, while the barricades outside the IG Office were escalating the problem.  They, however, hoped that after the removal of barricades the issue of the traffic congestion in the city would be resolved.

Earlier in the day, CJP Mian Saqib Nisar ordered the removal of security barricades from several key sites in the city.

A three-member bench headed by CJP Mian Saqib Nisar, comprising Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, was hearing a suo moto case pertaining to the drainage of the polluted water in the rivers and canals of the province, at SC’s Lahore Registry.

The apex court ordered the authorities to remove barricades outside Nawaz’s Jati Umra residence, Shehbaz’s Model Town residence and office, Governor House, Aiwan-e-Iqbal, the residence and seminary — Jamia Al Qadsia — of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, residence of late Punjab governor Salman Taseer, Qilla Gujjar Singh Police Station, passport office and other sites.

The chief justice also directed the home department to assure the bench that the barricades will be removed by midnight tonight.

When the additional home secretary explained to the court that the barricades have been erected due to security concerns, the chief justice retorted, “I have threat too; you should alert your forces”.

Commenting on the issue of barricades outside the buildings of security agencies, the chief justice observed that it will review the issue of barricades outside offices and then make a decision on their removal.

CJP Nisar admonished security officers for keeping elected representatives confined at home, observing that the “CM is an awaami aadmi [man of the people], he should say ‘Shehbaz Sharif is not scared of anyone’.”

When the chief justice asked Shehbaz—who had appeared before the court to answer the issue of polluted water— if they are right in saying this, the Punjab chief minister replied in the affirmative.

CJP Nisar then remarked that the point is not to indulge in politics, adding that the judiciary and executive need to work together to safeguard public’s rights.

It is pertinent to mention here that, the late chief traffic officer (CTO) Captain (r) Ahmad Mobeen had tried to get these pickets removed as he believed that such pickets and encroachments were a hurdle in maintaining the traffic flow in the city.

Last month, the CJP Nisar, while hearing of a suo moto case pertaining to the barricades installed in Lahore’s Judicial Colony, outside the residence of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shahbaz, ordered authorities to remove barriers from the area.

CJP TAKES SUO MOTU NOTICE OF PUNJAB POLICE’S ENCOUNTERS:

During the hearing, the chief justice also took a suo motu notice of Punjab police’s encounters and ordered the chief secretary to provide the court with the details of all encounters that took place in the past one year. Justice Nisar rejected the home secretary’s request for 10 days to compile the report and said that the report should be submitted within seven days.