Islamabad High Court declares lawyers’ chambers illegal, Order to demolish
ISLAMABAD February 16 (News Inspection) The Islamabad High Court Tuesday ruled that the illegal chambers of lawyers built on a playground in Sector F-8 should be demolished.
A 30-page judgement of a larger bench, authored by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, said that their chambers are ‘illegal, void and without jurisdiction and authority”. The court noted that records show that office-bearers of the Islamabad District Bar had “allotted plots in favour of some lawyers for construction of private chambers” in 2017. The bar did not obtain any “permission or authorization from the authorities”.
The bar members have been instructed to clear the “illegal construction” and “restore the playground for public use”.
The ground is situated “next to a commercial area where the administration of the Islamabad Capital Territory had rented privately-owned buildings more than four decades ago for establishing the District Courts,” the court said. “The playground was encroached, and some construction has also been raised by a few enrolled advocates for building their private chambers.”
The people from the neighbouring buildings use the playground for “unauthorized parking”, it said.
The federal government should make arrangements to hold a football tournament on March 23 and “give tribute to the greatest lawyer of the subcontinent and founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah”, the judgement said.
The government has earmarked a separate five-acre plot in Mauve Area so that Islamabad lawyers could “establish facilities for themselves”. The federal government should “commence and complete the construction of the state of the art complex of District courts without unnecessary delay”.
They must submit a progress report to the court’s registrar on the first of each month.
The court also ordered action against “public functionaries” that failed to take notice of the encroachment.
The petitioner, Shehnaz Butt, told the court that the encroachment “by enrolled advocates and the occupants of adjoining commercial buildings” started in 2013. She asserted that the general public, particularly the young people, have been deprived from their right to enjoy the benefits of the playground. The ground includes facilities for playing sports such as football, squash, basketball, and volleyball.
Ends
