Sc hearing: US embassy expansion opposed

US Embassy is already spread over 38 acres and granting an additional 18 acres is not necessary

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday restored a petition filed by the Wattan Party against granting an additional 18 acres to the US Embassy for its expansion. A three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja heard the petition. Barrister Zafarullah, representing the Wattan Party, informed the court that previously, a bench headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard and dismissed the case after the petitioner failed to appear. Wattan Party had filed the petition in 2009 and made the cabinet and foreign secretaries and the CDA respondents. The petitioner had requested the Supreme Court to stop the respondents from selling land to the US mission and to bar the embassy from renting property in Islamabad. It adds that the US Embassy is already spread over 38 acres and granting an additional 18 acres was not necessary. The court accepted the petition and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2015.