Public welfare: High Court stays two urban development projects

Prioritise health and education, not urban development, the court observes.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court on Thursday stopped the provincial government from proceeding on two development projects in Lahore. It declared emergency acquisition of land for one of these illegal and halted the second temporarily.

A full bench of the LHC declared the emergency requisition of land for the planned Elevated Expressway from Gulberg to Motorway (M-II) illegal after the government failed to establish the urgency.

The bench passed the order while hearing 129 petitions against the project and set aside the notification issued under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The bench comprised Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza.

In the short order, Justice Shah observed that the court would issue guidelines on how the government should proceed on development projects.

The petitioners said that the government had declared the project urgent and was expeditiously acquiring and demolishing houses under Section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act for the Rs27 billion worth Expressway Project. They said the government had not explained why the project was being built on an urgent basis. The court was asked to set aside the project.

Some of the petitions, filed in public interest, pointed out that the government had not carried out a mandatory environment impact assessment. Other petitions objected to the amount of public funds allocated to the project. They said that the government was constructing urban infrastructure on an emergency basis whereas the money could have been spent on education and health projects instead.

The bench observed that education and health should be prioritised over urban development.

Counsel for the Lahore Development Authority replied that the Elevated Expressway was a public welfare project. He said it was a mandate of the Executive and that the LHC should not undertake a judicial review of the matter. He said those who had issues with the project could approach appropriate forums for legal reparation under the Punjab Land Acquisition Act and cases pertaining to compensation for land could be taken to civil courts.

The court asked the LDA to justify the urgency in acquiring land for the project, which the authority failed to do.

The bench had appointed three amici curiae for assistance on the matter. The amici curiae said that the project was being undertaken in violation of prescribed rules. They said it was necessary for the government to hold a public hearing before acquiring the land, which it had not done.

Signal Free Corridor

A single bench of the LHC comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah issued a stay order on a Signal-Free Corridor planned from Liberty Chowk to Mozang (Qurtaba Chowk). The court has asked the government for its reply on the petition by March 6.

Petitioner Fahad Malik said that the government was going to hew trees to construct the Signal Free Corridor. He said this would cause pollution.

He said the LDA had not obtained an NOC from the Environment Protection Department before starting construction.

He requested the court to declare the project illegal and requested a stay order against the project till the court reached a decision on the petition.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2015.