Final arguments sought in land dispute case

Court directs lawyers to assist it in light of 2008 Supreme Court ruling

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought final arguments from lawyers representing the parties on November 10 in a case challenging the Capital Development Authority's (CDA) operation in Saidpur Village and seeking payment of compensation in accordance with a Supreme Court judgment.

Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas directed the lawyers to assist the court at the next hearing in light of the Supreme Court's 2008 judgment.

The judge heard 127 petitions in the matter. Interior Secretary Ahmed Raza Sarwar also sat in the courtroom and monitored the proceedings.

Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas observed that a matter that had already been settled was being reopened after 50 years.

"Compliance with a court order is mandatory. It is not a courtesy; it is the law. If anything is done without a court order, everyone will have to go home," he remarked.

The court directed that no one should be subjected to injustice and said the case would be heard transparently.

Justice Minhas observed that if land had been awarded in a particular manner, someone could come tomorrow and claim that the person identified as his grandfather was not his grandfather but someone else.

At the previous hearing, it was stated that an Afghan national had been residing there. The judge remarked that if an Afghan national had been living on someone else's property, the landlord would have a problem.