IHC extends stay against demolition of licensed kiosks

Court releases two suspects charged with murder for want of evidence

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) extended the stay order against demolition of kiosks in the federal capital till Wednesday, July 3.

During the hearing on Monday on kiosk owners association’s petition, the court barred Capital Development Authority (CDA) from demolishing kiosks. These kiosks were not encroachments; the petitioner’s counsel Haseeb Hasan told the court that the stalls were established after the CDA issued them licences. However, an operation against them was now launched.

He added that the CDA re-issued licenses on May 28, 2018, after an intervention by a committee of the National Assembly.

However, CDA’s encroachment director was persistent to demolish them.

He said that after the intervention, the CDA issued new licenses but it recently carried out an operation once again.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani summoned the capital’s master plan and details of 485 kiosks from CDA in the next hearing.

CDA has issued temporary licences for operating tuck shops, various kiosks and stalls at Daman-e-Koh and other public parks.

These kiosks were issued licences on a simple application at a nominal license fee back in 2009 and were being extended without any increase in rates or advertisement in the press. The licences expired in 2014 and 2015 but the licences were running kiosks without any extension or deposit of licence fee, causing a loss to public exchequer. In 2018, CDA re-issued these licences.

Two released

The District and Sessions Judge Sohail Nasir ordered the release of two convicts in a drug smuggling case as they completed the period of their sentence.

The Sabzi Mandi Police registered a case against Habib Khan and Muhammad Arsalan for smuggling drugs from Azad Jammu and Kashmir to Islamabad in November 2017.

After conclusion of arguments, the judge said that both suspects were sole bread-winners of their families and reserved the right to live with dignity in the society. The court said that the offence that the suspects had committed offered punishment of two months along with a fine of Rs11,000 and an additional sentence of a week if the fine was not paid. However, the suspects had already completed their sentence while they were imprisoned and their release was ordered.

In another case, Judge Sohail Nasir acquitted two brothers in a murder case.

The Sabzi Mandi Police registered a case against the suspects, Zafar Khan and Ghulam Rasool, as they were accused of killing Najeebullah with a dagger in May, 2018.

The court said that the prosecution failed to prove the act and ordered release of Zafar Khan and dismissal of Ghulam Rasool’s name, who was already on bail, from the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2019.