Price of progress: SC seeks report on graveyard shifting

Graves fell along the route of metro bus project

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has sought a comprehensive report from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the shifting of a private graveyard in I-8/1 to make way for the metro bus project.

A two-member apex court bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja is hearing the petition, filed by a local businessman and the owner of the graveyard, Raja Ghulam Farid, against the shifting of 21 graves from the private graveyard, which was blocking the proposed route of  the metro bus project.



The petitioner has also demanded compensation from the CDA regarding a built-up structure in the graveyard.  The petitioner also claimed that the CDA did not shift the graves in view of a recent Islamabad High Court order.

He also referred to the opinion of two Islamic scholars, wherein it is stated that graves from a private graveyard cannot be shifted, adding that these graves were not touched in 1960, when CDA was acquiring land in the area.

During the hearing on Friday, Babar Awan, counsel for the petitioner, stated that it is a private graveyard where his client’s family members have been buried since 1905.

On the other hand, Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, counsel for the CDA, stated that all the graves have been shifted and the petitioner is now demanding compensation, adding that the CDA is examining this aspect of the case as well.

Justice Khawaja observed that there are precedents where graves were shifted, elaborating that the grave of the Punjabi Sufi saint Sultan Bahu was shifted twice. Later, the court has sought a reply from the CDA and adjourned the case for two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2014.