Three differently-abled minors have approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), requesting it to protect their house which the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) reportedly plans to demolish.
Petitioner Suraya Kausar filed a petition through Advocate Sardar Balakh Sher Khosa, making respondents the LDA, Anti-Corruption Establishment director general, Lahore deputy commissioner and six others.
Advocate Khosa contended that it was astonishing for the family and bystanders that LDA officials not only misbehaved with the family but also allegedly threw the differently-abled minor victims out of their house, leaving them on the street.
Khosa implored the court that despite claims of the authorities about the welfare and protection of differently-abled members of society, the respondent LDA officials’ behaviour was found to be insensitive during the demolition process.
He implored the court that his client purchased a plot in Johar Town and paid all expenses for the plot and the construction of a single storey house on the premises by adopting all procedural formalities in accordance with the law.
Later on, the petitioner learnt that the plot possessed by the petitioner was not properly verified as per the record of the authority, the counsel said.
The LDA staff approached the petitioner and apprised her about the status of the plot, that it was not registered in the authority’s record. He said the respondents asked his client to bear some expenses if she wanted to get it registered with LDA.
Keeping in view the aggravated situation and fraud committed by the previous owner, who sold her the plot, as well as the non-availability of the record in LDA, the petitioner approached the civil court where she was granted a stay order.
Later LDA officials along with heavy machinery came to the house of the petitioner and started demolishing her house without any prior intimation, he said.
Khosa argued that the LDA officials not only demolished the house but also damaged the household items causing a loss to the tune of more than Rs2.5 million.
The petitioner said the authority had flouted the order of the trial court.
The petitioner prayed the court that direction be passed to the LDA to reconstruct her house within a stipulated period.
After hearing the case, LHC’s Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza disposed of the petition with direction to the petitioner to approach the civil court where the suit of the petitioner was pending for redressing her grievance.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2020.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ