According to the petition, hundreds of students were affected by the “illegal occupation” and were forced to attend classes on the road. PHOTO: UoP FACEBOOK PAGE
The doors of the garden remain under lock and key despite earlier court orders. The respondents were ordered on several occasions to unlock the premises on GT Road in Nowshera and explain their position for failing to implement court orders.
The gardens, measuring 680 kanals, were leased to the university in December 2005 for a period of 99 years. UoP set up a botanical garden under the Centre of Plant Biodiversity in 2003.
The court earlier disposed of a writ, restraining the government from taking back the land on which the garden was established. However, the administration seemed adamant on getting its hands on the property.
The district government’s action of taking control of the botanical garden in Azakhel displeased the court as it violated a stay order.
When the hearing began on a petition filed by the UoP Syndicate, through Mian Mohibullah Kakakhel and Mian Saifullah Kakakhel, a divisional bench headed by Justice Yahya Afridi was told the provincial government leased out the plot to UoP. A botanical garden for research purposes was established on the premises.
The petitioner’s counsels argued that the provincial government later decided to establish Air University and Technical University on the property and locked the garden.
Mohibullah said district nazim Liaquat Khattak got an order passed from the chief minister to get the leased land back. He said the PHC, on April 20, restrained the district government from implementing the CM’s orders and declared the move illegal. Meanwhile, a writ was later filed by the teachers’ association of UoP and decided in the university’s favour.
He said the provincial government challenged the high court’s ruling at the Supreme Court, but the petition was later withdrawn. As a result, PHC’s verdict stood intact.
He said the district government once again locked the garden, forcing teachers to approach the high court against the action. The court ordered the unlocking of the garden, but all directions were ignored.
Mohibullah argued that the failure to comply with court orders was tantamount to contempt. He requested the bench to launch contempt proceedings against the respondents.
The PHC had also issued several notices to Nowshera DC Iftikhar Alam to explain the failure to comply with court orders. After the provincial government’s decision to establish two universities on the property, the Higher Education Commission, in an attempt to support the move, sanctioned a grant of Rs37.861 million.
In April 2016, revenue department officials, including a tehsildar and patwari, along with a heavy contingent of police, went to the garden and locked it. The staff which resisted the action was manhandled.
According to the petition, hundreds of students were affected by the “illegal occupation” and were forced to attend classes on the road.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2016.
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