Zoning issues: Library allowed on Doongi Ground
Lahore High Court vacates stay order; petitioners’ counsel vow to appeal in SC.
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court on Friday allowed the Punjab government to construct a parking plaza, a library and a bowling alley on 18 per cent of the 39 kanal area of Doongi Ground, a public park near Gulberg’s Mini Market on MM Alam Road.
The judgment was announced by a full bench comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh, and Justice Asad Munir.
In 2006, the court had stayed the construction of a cinema and a shopping mall, proposed by the then chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s government. However, in 2008, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif proposed the construction of a library on the ground.
The petitioners Muhammad and Ahmad and City for Better Environment had challenged the construction. They said that it was unlawful to convert a public park into a commercial place. Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique submitted that there was no provision in the Lahore Development Authority rules or any other laws to allow the conversion.
After Justice Saeed Akhtar had stayed the construction of a theatre in 2006, the Punjab government filed an intra court appeal against the stay order eventually getting permission to continue construction. The petitioners then challenged the construction in the Supreme Court (SC), where again Justice Khalilur Rehman stayed the construction.
On Friday, a representative of the Punjab government told the court that the government had cancelled the contract for construction of the Imax Theatre. He said that 80 per cent of the area would remain a public park and a state-of-the-art library would be set up on the remaining 20 per cent. He requested the court to dismiss the petition.
The petitioners contended that the ground was a public park in the original plan and that the law and several superior courts decisions barred use of park land for commercial purposes. They said that the government had already wasted Rs376 million on the project and would need an additional Rs1,181 million to complete the project. They said it was an unnecessary burden on the provincial exchequer. Petitioners’ counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique told The Express Tribune that he would challenge the verdict in the SC.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2011.
The Lahore High Court on Friday allowed the Punjab government to construct a parking plaza, a library and a bowling alley on 18 per cent of the 39 kanal area of Doongi Ground, a public park near Gulberg’s Mini Market on MM Alam Road.
The judgment was announced by a full bench comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh, and Justice Asad Munir.
In 2006, the court had stayed the construction of a cinema and a shopping mall, proposed by the then chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s government. However, in 2008, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif proposed the construction of a library on the ground.
The petitioners Muhammad and Ahmad and City for Better Environment had challenged the construction. They said that it was unlawful to convert a public park into a commercial place. Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique submitted that there was no provision in the Lahore Development Authority rules or any other laws to allow the conversion.
After Justice Saeed Akhtar had stayed the construction of a theatre in 2006, the Punjab government filed an intra court appeal against the stay order eventually getting permission to continue construction. The petitioners then challenged the construction in the Supreme Court (SC), where again Justice Khalilur Rehman stayed the construction.
On Friday, a representative of the Punjab government told the court that the government had cancelled the contract for construction of the Imax Theatre. He said that 80 per cent of the area would remain a public park and a state-of-the-art library would be set up on the remaining 20 per cent. He requested the court to dismiss the petition.
The petitioners contended that the ground was a public park in the original plan and that the law and several superior courts decisions barred use of park land for commercial purposes. They said that the government had already wasted Rs376 million on the project and would need an additional Rs1,181 million to complete the project. They said it was an unnecessary burden on the provincial exchequer. Petitioners’ counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique told The Express Tribune that he would challenge the verdict in the SC.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2011.