The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order, halting construction work on a portion of the multi-billion Bhara Kahu bypass project till the next hearing and sought a reply from the federal government.
A professor of the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) through his counsel had challenged the project in the IHC stating that the land on which the bypass was being built actually belonged to the university.
In its written order issued later, the IHC said that “until the next date fixed only, no further construction activity shall be undertaken within the boundary wall of the QAU”.
Earlier, when IHC judge Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb took up the matter, the petitioner’s counsel, Kashif Malik said that the Bhara Kahu bypass was being built on the land of the QAU.
The court asked the petitioner’s counsel whether the bypass was not a project of public interest. Whether a portion of the university’s building had been demolished to create space for the road. The court said in Saudi Arabia even mosques were razed to the ground for such development schemes.
The petitioner’s counsel replied that the project was being carried out in violation of the capital’s master plan. “Actually, the road is passing through the university’s land,” he said.
Capital Development Authority (CDA) counsel Nazir Jawad maintained that “if the project is stopped, the institution will suffer an irreparable loss”. He claimed that the bypass project has been started after taking approval from the QAU administration.
The CDA counsel told the court that 200-kanal of land had been taken from the QAU and in return, 250-kanal of an alternate land had been given to the university. When the court inquired whether the CDA has possession of the land given to the QAU, the CDA counsel replied that “the land allotted to the university is free of all defects”.
The CDA counsel told the court that the QAU was a defaulter of more than Rs1 billion. To this, the judge remarked that “the CDA declares (anyone) defaulter if it wants to go against someone”.
The judge while addressing the CDA counsel remarked that “the contractor should pick up the teachers of the QAU and throw them out”. The court remarked that it appeared that more valuable land is being returned to the QAU.
During the hearing, the court said that if no building of the university is affected, then how the stay can be granted? The court said that the QAU vice-chancellor should be summoned to the court and asked if the land given to the university was acceptable to him.
“Decisions regarding the affairs of the university is not taken by an individual but by the administration,” the judge observed.
The petitioner's lawyer said that trees were being cut on the Bhara Kahu bypass project and the environment was being destroyed. The court inquired whether an environment impact assessment (EIA) of the project was conducted by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA). The CDA lawyer replied that all agencies have approved the Bhara Kahu bypass.
The court ordered to stop work on the project on the land falling under the jurisdiction of QAU until the Pak-EPA undertakes a survey of the project and submits a report.
It should be noted that work on other parts of the bypass will continue. The court adjourned the hearing till October 24.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2022.
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