Commission appointed to examine school site

Commissioner tells court the property did not belong to the institution.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Monday appointed a local commission to investigate claims that the government demolished a building in Walton in violation of court orders.

Commissioner Jawad Rafiq told the court that the property that had been demolished was not in the use of the school nor belonged to them. The attorney for the Pakistan Foundation Technical Institution accused the commissioner of lying and said the court had issued a stay order stopping the government from razing the property.

Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan appointed a local commission and directed him to visit the site of the institution and report to the court by December 14. He said that any violation of court orders would not be tolerated.

The petition was filed by the Pakistan Foundation Technical Institution stating that the district government planned to demolish the property leased to the foundation 40 years ago. The petitioner said that the government had razed the building even though the court had restrained it from doing so and sought contempt charges against the commissioner and district coordination officer.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2011.