ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) was directed by the Supreme Court to review structures that should be regularised thus halting the demolition of illegal structures in the Bani Gala area.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Umar Ata Bandial heard a petition against Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict declaring Bani Gala and Sector E-11 structures as illegal and in violation of the city’s master plan.
During the hearing, CDA was given six months to review the building structures and submit bi-monthly reports before the court.
Ordering a halt on the on-going construction, Justice Nisar warned that “even an inch of construction will be liable to contempt of court”.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Waseem Sajjad said, “It remains unclear as to who controls the area. The CDA has not acquired the land yet the IHC declared it to be under CDA jurisdiction.”
“No construction can begin without CDA’s permission,” said Justice Nisar as he observed that if the area fell under Islamabad’s master plan then it would be in CDA’s authority.
Earlier, in July, a larger IHC bench declared that houses and other buildings constructed in Bani Gala or Sector E-11 are in violation of the capital’s master plan and was illegal and liable to be demolished.
“We allow these petitions and declare that construction of houses or buildings of any nature, whether in the Golra Revenue Estate (Sector E-11) or the area comprising Bani Gala which have been or are intended to be constructed in violation of the master plan, the Ordinance of 1960, the Zoning Regulations of 1992, the Ordinance of 1966 and the Wildlife Ordinance of 1979, as the case may be, are illegal, without lawful authority and jurisdiction and thus liable to be demolished as mandated under the Ordinance of 1960 and the regulations made thereunder,” the bench stated in the judgment.
