From Mufti Mahmood Flyouver: PHC orders alternative site to relocate traders

Gives govt month to help relocate businesses after no progress for two years.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court on Monday ordered the provincial government to provide alternative land within a month to traders whose businesses were disturbed by the construction of Mufti Mahmood Flyover in Peshawar.

The division bench of Justices Irshad Qaiser and Roohul Amin Chamkani ordered implementation of the court order within a month otherwise the relevant authorities would be served contempt of court notices.

Hearing a writ petition filed by the traders through their counsel Shah Faisal Utmankhel, the bench was told petitioners’ businesses were uprooted due to the construction. Utmankhel argued traders were deprived of their source of income and this forced them to move the PHC on January 1, 2014. The court directed the provincial government to provide alternative sites to the petitioners.

Not a fresh matter

Utmankhel argued two years had passed since those orders, but the government was yet to provide a space. Additional Advocate General Mian Arshad Jan argued it was the Local Council Board’s (LCB) responsibility to provide land to the affected traders.

The LCB lawyer, Sabahuddin Khattak, added the Communication and Works department would collect rent for the shops. The bench, after hearing the arguments, ordered LCB and C&W department to provide the land and produce a report in this regard. The same bench also sought replies from Small Dams Irrigation department director and Swabi district superintendent for not recruiting petitioner Abdul Wahid on the employees’ sons’ quota.

The bench was informed the petitioner’s father, Sultan Khan, was appointed in 1990 to the Small Dams Irrigation department. After he retired, his son applied for a job at the department. The bench issued a notice to the respondents and ordered them to file a reply.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2016.