Errors and ommissions: PHA admits it possessed parking plaza land

Justice Saeed says plaza has marred Liberty Chowk.

LAHORE:

The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has admitted that it was in possession of the land at Liberty Market that the Park and Ride Plaza has been built on, giving credence to petitions claiming the structure is illegal as it is built on land meant to be reserved for a park.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed of the Lahore High Court, after hearing a PHA representative, commented that the parking structure had “marred the beauty of Liberty Chowk”.

He said that there appeared to be irregularities in the construction of the plaza and those responsible “will have to pay the price for their mistake”.

The PHA representative had told the court that the land had been in possession of the authority and it used to rent out the land for private commercial use. However, he added that the PHA was not the rightful owner of the land, and that the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) had given it to the PHA “by mistake”.

At this the petitioner’s counsel submitted that the PHA “confession” had established that the plaza was built on park land, which meant the building should not have been constructed there, as per several Supreme Court judgements as well as the LHC decision in the Gulberg Doongi Ground case.

Justice Saeed said the PHA had admitted its mistake and he expected the LDA to follow suit. The judge directed the PHA counsel to produce the sitemap and rent record for the land before the construction of the plaza at the next hearing on October 13.

The petitioners are businesses in Liberty Market that say the parking plaza and the shops within have driven away their customers. They have also asked the court to reopen the roads closed because of the plaza. They argue that the public has a right to use these streets and so closing them is illegal.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2011.