IHC halts CDA’s eviction operation

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday ordered to halt Capital Development Authority (CDA) operation in the rural area of Bheka Syedan located in Sector F-11.

IHC Chief Justice Athar approved for hearing the petition moved by Razia Bibi through her counsel to halt the operation to evict local people until the payment of compensation to the victims. IHC Chief Justice gave his observation that CDA practice of land acquisition and payment of compensation remains dubious.

“In order to facilitate corruption, compensation is not paid after taking land from the people on whose land CDA builds the sectors,” the top judge of Islamabad High Court noted. The counsel of the victims maintained that the CDA did not pay the compensation and issued a notice for demolishing the home.

The CDA counsel maintained that the claims made by the victims are baseless. “These are not the actual residents of the place, but illegal occupants who have come here to get compensation illegally,” he said. Justice Minallah remarked “CDA is engaged in oppression of the local people of the city for the past 50 years” The court referred the case to court No 4 and ordered to halt the eviction operation.

“Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzaib is also reviewing several other cases. The same bench will conduct the hearing of the case,” the court remarked. Earlier IHC had declined to issue a stay order against the land acquisition operation conducted by CDA in Bheka Syedan, F-11. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah was hearing the petition filed by Razia Bibi. According to her counsel, CDA gave her a notice to vacate her inherited house until December 30.

He requested the court to issue a restraining order against the CDA’s operation as the civic authority is going to forcibly evict residents from their houses. He added that the authority did not pay his client any compensation for the land. Justice Minallah remarked that since the civic agency had planned to start the operation within 24 hours, this was not an appropriate time to seek restraining orders.

The court however issued a notice to CDA for further hearing on Jan 1. Children forced into bonded labour rescued On the other hand, the Islamabad administration, taking action on the directives of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), successfully recovered all the 10 missing children forced into child labour in brick kilns.

The court, giving an extension of 48-hours for the recovery of the missing children had remarked that the IG police and the Chief Commissioner Islamabad should appear in the court in personal capacity if they failed to find the children. Today, the children will be produced before the court during the hearing of the case.

On the orders of the IHC, the Islamabad administration has recovered children from jurisdiction area of the Noon Police Station. The owner of Gondal Bricks Company situated at Haji Camp Road, Islamabad, had illegally detained children.

The factory owner had kept the children, some as young as eight-year-old, as collateral for the loans their parents had taken from him. The arrest of the brick factory owner led to the quick recovery of children, Noon police station officials said. The CJ Athar Minallah expressing displeasure on the police and management on Thursday, had ordered recovery of the missing children within 48-hours.

The court had ordered producing the children before the court on Saturday. “The children are missing, and the police have not even lodged an FIR, the state is not acting the way it does when children of renowned figures go missing,” the CJ had remarked.