Land use violations: CDA given two weeks to present report

IHC summons enforcement director to explain why no action taken.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday gave the civic agency’s chief two weeks to submit a report on commercial activities in the capital’s residential areas.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui passed the order after Samina Mehmood petitioned the court to direct the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to stop commercial activities in residential areas.

The court directed CDA Chairman Nadeem Hassan Asif to conduct a survey of all the sectors of the city and submit a detailed report on commercial activities in residential areas on October 7. The court asked the CDA enforcement head to appear before the court on the next date of hearing and explain why the authority had failed to take action against violators.

In every sector of the capital, residential premises are being used for commercial activities, like hospitals, schools, business centres. This constitutes non-conforming use of residential premises, observed Justice Siddiqui.

The petitioner’s counsel Advocate Muhammad Saleem maintained that his client rented out her house in F-10/3 to Aamir Shakeel, which he converted into a car showroom without her consent. Saleem informed the court that his client had submitted several applications to CDA against the commercial use of the property, but the authority had failed to take action against him, leaving the petitioner with no other option but to approach the court.

Correction: Earlier, Photo of Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was wrongly captioned as Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2013.