Land dispute: ‘Military has no objection to Fortress Stadium construction’

LAHORE:

A law officer from the Ministry of Defence on Friday told the Lahore High Court that there was no rule against construction on Fortress Square Plaza.

Justice Ayesha A Malik is hearing a petition against construction on Fortress Staidum.

The law officer said according to a notification of the federal government issued on April 2, 2008, construction of the plaza was in accordance with the law. He said there was no rule against commercial activities on the land.

He said the plaza was being constructed for the welfare of troops. He said 25 per cent of the profit would go to the federal government and 75 per cent to the troops.

Dupak Developers’ counsel said the petitions were time-barred and were liable to be dismissed.

He tried to justify construction of the plaza by saying that it was surrounded by commercial buildings.

Advocate Shahab Qutab said the petitioner had said the land was for military purposes and the military did not have an objection on the construction of the plaza.

He said the petitioner was not aggrieved and the petition should be dismissed.

Tariq Hassan, another advocate for DUPAK, said the petition did not fall under public interest litigation.

He said residents of the areas had no objection over construction of the plaza. He said the petitioner was not a representative of an aggrieved party.

He said the petition should be dismissed for being non-maintainable.

The court adjourned hearing till June 6.

Saad Rasool said the shopping complex was built on 60,942 square feet and was constructed in violation of the law.

He said the land belonged to the government but the Fortress Management had leased it to DUPAK Developers Pakistan on October 27, 2007, for 33 years. He said the construction was complete and the management was handing over possession of shops.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2014.