Top officials of Capital Development Authority (CDA) and a ruling party member of the National Assembly were issued notices by a court on Tuesday for encroaching upon a private land.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued contempt of court notices to CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, MNA Muhammad Tariq Khattak of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and other officials for continuous encroachment on the premises of a shrine and graveyard of Baba Muzammil Hussain Shah.
Syed Asad Ali Shah and other residents of sector F-11/3 have filed the petition in the IHC for the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the nominated persons. The petitioners contended that the order of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench had not been implemented.
The LHC on August 4, 2010 had directed the respondents “...to redress the grievances of the petitioner, conduct demarcation of the land and remove encroachment if any and protect the area of the shrine and graveyard.”
The respondents were given four weeks to comply with the court orders.
Others who were issued notices by Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan were CDA’s Director-General Planning Sarwar Sindhu, Director Enforcement Muhammad Ramzan Joya, Assistant Director Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Iqbal Yousaf and Zahid Hussain, who represents the Anjuman Darbar-e-Aliya Baba Muzammil Hussain Shah from Bheeka Sayedan and claims inheritance of the land.
The petitioners through their lawyer Waqas Malik have alleged that MNA Khattak and other influential people have encroached on the land in connivance with Zahid Hussain, by demolishing the graves and constructing huge structures. They have also occupied the adjacent land illegally.
The petition further alleged that Hussain with the help of other respondents, constructed and then rented out a small unit in the area in violation of the court orders.
Meanwhile, CDA has also been accused of negligence due to which the number of encroachments in the area was rising.
Malik informed the court that the Chief Commissioner on May 2011 declared, the Anjuman Darbar-e-Alia to redraft and reapprove its objectives as per law and remove those purposes from its bylaws.”
However, no action has been taken so far, added the petitioner.
Despite court orders, CDA did not demarcate the 216 canals of land that belongs to the heirs of Muzammil Shah. On the other hand, the civic agency has marking plots adjacent to the spring (drainage canal) which is the violation of the CDA master plan, added Malik.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2011.
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