LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday summoned the minutes of a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) held in 1991 in relation to the Kalabagh dam, DawnNews reported.

Chief Justice LHC Umar Ata Bandial summoned the meeting's minutes during the hearing of petitions calling for the construction of the Kalabagh dam.

The petitioners' counsels had earlier argued that the CCI had already resolved to construct the dam in an agreement signed between the provinces and the federation in 1991.

Adjourning the hearing to Nov 29, the bench summoned a response from the federal government on the matter.

On Oct 30, Justice Bandial had asked the petitioners’ counsel to come up with arguments on a point that what kind of order could be issued to the government in the case.

The petitioners had submitted that non-construction of the dam would render the country’s agricultural land barren. They had stated that the project was in the interest of all provinces and objections were of a technical nature, which could be removed.

The petitioners had said the technical committee on water resources on April 11, 2005 had given green signal for the dam’s construction. They had moreover submitted that the court should issue a clear-cut directive for the completion of the project.

They had further stated that in June 1985 and July 1989 the planning and development division had decided to construct the dam. The counsels’ had also said that in 2004 the LHC had ordered for taking measures for the dam’s construction.