Police ordered to vacate ‘illegally occupied’ flats
Declaring the 16-year occupation of 200 flats of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) by the police personnel since the Lal Masjid operation as illegal, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the authorities to immediately get the apartments vacated by the Islamabad police.
The court also directed the initiation of criminal and departmental proceedings against the delinquent personnel. In its judgement, the court upheld that the police, which were supposed to ensure the enforcement of the law, have illegally occupied the flats.
The IHC’s divisional bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri allowed CDA's appeal against the decision of the IHC’s single bench.
In the detailed verdict, the court ordered the federal police personnel occupying the 200 flats of CDA for 16 years to immediately vacate the flats and also called for an implementation report within a month.
The said that the 200 flats were temporarily acquired by the Islamabad Police during the Lal Masjid operation and their occupation until now is an open aversion on the part of the police.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2023.