SC seeks report on Bani Gala encroachment

The Supreme Court of Pakistan granted 15 days to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to submit a progress report on recovery of land from encroachers in Bani Gala Botanical Garden.

The apex court has also directed the Survey of Pakistan to submit a report on action taken on the Punjab Forest Department application for demarcating boundaries of the Bani Gala area.

A three-member bench of Supreme Court (SC) comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial presided over the case related to encroachment in the Bani Gala area on Wednesday. At the offset of the hearing, the CDA lawyer said that the directorate responsible for taking action against encroachment was repatriated from the authority after enforcement of the local government system.

However, he added that the authority had recently retained it and sought 15 days period for submitting the report on recovery of encroached land of Bani Gala Botanical Garden.

The lawyer of private landowners in Bani Gala informed the bench that the CDA was occupying private land in the name of Botanical Garden. He identified that the actual land allocated for the garden was 583 acres while the garden was expanded to 725 acres.

The counsel also pointed out the decision of a civil court in favour of private landowners.

Justice Bandial remarked that they wanted to dispose of the case at the earliest as it was a matter of public interest.

Punjab Forest Department Chief Conservator suggested that the issue would be resolved quickly if the Survey of Pakistan defined boundaries of the related land on the application of his department. He added that it had been around two years since they filed an application for demarcation.

The court summoned reports from Survey of Pakistan and CDA in 15 days period and adjourned the case until October 28. In 2018, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) had recommended an inquiry into the failure of the Ministry of Climate Change to establish a botanical garden even though it was handed over the possession of 583 acres for the purpose about 20 years ago.

CDA handed over the physical possession of the land in Banigala hills to the Zoological Survey of Pakistan in 1999 for the establishment of the zoo-cum-botanical garden.

However, the AGP in a report for 2017-18 observed that so far the Zoological Survey of Pakistan could not develop the garden.

Half a dozen cases pertaining to encroachment on the land are pending in courts since 2005, the report added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2020.