Saving businesses: Rallies banned on The Mall, court told

Chief secretary and chief engineer told to come up with traffic plan today.

LAHORE:

The Punjab government on Monday told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that it had banned taking out of rallies or processions on The Mall with effect from July 1.

This was stated by home secretary in a written reply submitted before Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry during the hearing of a writ petition against protest demonstrations on The Mall.

The reply said that an ordinance in this regard had been issued after the approval of chief minister. Prohibition of protest demonstrations on The Mall had been imposed along with prohibitions on the number of demonstrators at Nasser Bagh and Attique Stadium, the reply read. He pointed out that the protestors would be allowed to hold demonstration at Nasser Bagh if their number was under 1,000 whereas if the number was more than 1,000 the demonstration would be held at Attique Stadium.

The home secretary, the DCO and the Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) appeared before court on Monday. The CJ expressed displeasure over the DCO’s failure to chalk out a plan to ensure smooth traffic.

The CJ admonished the DCO and asked, “Why have you not held deliberations with all stakeholders including traders and the media to resolve traffic issues?”

The CJ asked the DCO to hold meetings with the media and ask them to stop coverage of rallies and processions on The Mall, which would help the government in keeping The Mall free from all kinds of demonstrations.

The home secretary said a committee comprising the chief secretary, the Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) chief engineer and the CTO had been constituted to chalk out a comprehensive traffic plan. The CJ summoned the chief secretary and chief engineer for July 12 with directions to apprise the court about a viable solution to overcome the traffic mess in the city.

The CJ was hearing a writ petition filed by the Mall Road Traders’ Association seeking direction against protest demonstrations held on The Mall. They informed the court that due to the protests they had faced losses worth millions.

They said different political, religious and other parties held protests on a daily basis especially on Fridays. The association said the traffic police had to block all adjoining roads whenever a rally or protest was held which was a huge obstacle for people coming to The Mall for shopping and business.

The petitioner-association prayed to the court to issue a restraining order against the holding of protest and rallies on the Mall.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2011.