Govt directed to regulate brick manufacturing

Courts orders govt to take all stakeholders on board

LAHORE: Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh directed the government of Punjab to initiate appropriate administrative and legislative measures within six months to regulate brick manufacturing in general and use and conservation of soil in particular.

The 23-page judgment issued on Friday also directed the government to take all stakeholders on board, including (but not limited to), the representative body of brick kiln owners, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Department of Mines and Minerals, Agriculture Department and the Environment Protection Department.

The order read that the court has noted with grave concern that there was no check on reckless soil digging in Pakistan in general and Punjab in particular. There is an urgent need to draw integrated environmental policies for sustainable development and protection and conservation of species, habitats, biodiversity and natural resources.

Notices served to over 300 brick kilns in Multan

The order also highlighted that these checks were required not only in the national interest but were also needed to meet the international obligations and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The apathy of the executive and the legislature was heart-rending.

The petitioner contended the court that he had set up a brick kiln at Kasur Road bypass near Raiwind and was doing business under the name and style of Chaudhry Pervaiz Bricks Company. According to him, he had converted it to Zigzag technology which is environment-friendly. He had purchased a piece of land near Raja Jang, Kasur, from which he digs the earth and transports it to his kiln for use as raw material for making bricks. His grievance was that Police Station City Raiwind SHO unlawfully stopped the transportation of earth to his brick kiln which has brought his business to a halt.

He requested the court that a writ of prohibition be issued against the SHO restraining him from interfering in his lawful business.

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As the court summoned respondent SHO, he (SHO) implored the court that the impugned action had been taken on the instructions of Lahore Region Mines and Minerals deputy director and placed on record copies of his letters of June 12, 2019, and June 13, 2019, which he had addressed to him in this regard.

As the court issued notices to the government of Punjab, Mines and Minerals deputy director, the Environment Protection Department and the Human Rights Department of the province. It also appointed advocate Sheraz Zaka, as amicus curiae.

The petitioner’s counsel implored the court that petitioner was engaged in a lawful business and was using soil from his own land for manufacturing of bricks which was neither prohibited by any law currently in force nor required any licence under the Punjab Mining Concession Rules, 2002. He further contended that the other brick kiln owners were using the same raw material but no action had been taken against them and only the petitioner had been singled out. He maintained that the action of respondent SHO smacked of malice and was a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed to him under Articles 4, 18, 24 and 25 of the Constitution.

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