Piplan judicial complex: Request to relinquish building turned down

LHC declines request of a delegation to hand over the judicial complex building to the provincial government.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Monday declined a request of a delegation of Piplan Bar Association to hand over the judicial complex building to the provincial government for setting up a Danish School.

The delegation, led by Piplan Bar Association president, Advocate Subah Sadiq, suggested that the building could be exchanged with another building or plot of land, closer to Piplan city.

The delegation told the chief justice that the current complex was 15 km away from the city. The building had been built by cutting through the forest beside the city. The delegation said that lawyers faced great difficulties in commuting to and from the complex. It requested that the building be handed over to the provincial government which could establish the Danish School over there. In exchange, the delegation said, the government could allot a plot for the construction of a new judicial complex.

CJ Ijaz Chaudary, however, did not grant the request. He told the delegation that huge amounts of funds provided by the Asian Development Bank were spent on the construction of the complex. He said that without recovery of the amount, the building could not be passed on to some other department. CJ Chaudary said he understood the reservations of lawyers but it was a complicated matter and the bar association should consider all aspects of the issue before making a suggestion. The delegation agreed that it would consult other bar associations concerned with the matter and come up with a fresh proposal.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2010.