Pak Tea House: LHC lifts stay on renovation

LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday lifted a stay order barring the Punjab government from reviving the Pak Tea House. A bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Ahmad and Justice Mamoon Rasheed Sheikh issued this order while dismissing an intra court appeal. Justice Umar Ata Bandial had earlier dismissed Zahid Hussain’s petition on February 16. The petitioner had submitted that the place known as the Pak Tea House had been leased to his father by the government in 1947 and after his death, the lease had been transferred to him.  Hussain said that the Punjab government’s plans to reopen the Pak Tea House were against the law as the shop had been leased to him. He had asked the court to stop the government from reopening the Pak Tea House.  An additional advocate general, representing the Punjab government, submitted that the Pak Tea House was meant to be a gathering place for intellectuals and the government had already started renovations.  The Young Men’s Christian Association, which owns the Pak Tea House building, said it had leased the property to Hussain on the condition that the iconic restaurant be run from there.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2012.