ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday took notice of the sealing off of the Shahra-i-Suharwardy at Aabpara junction.

A three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to explain why and on whose orders the road had been blocked for the last many years.

“Blocking of main roads in the name of security cannot be allowed,” the chief justice said, adding that everyone is equal before the law.

The observation came during a follow-up hearing when CDA Chairman Usman Bajwa apprised the court about the compliance of court directions to clear blockade outside two hotels. He said the roads outside the hotels are now open for public use.

The court will order enhanced security where the court feels it is needed, CJP says

The court had ordered the civic body on Wednesday to immediately remove barricades outside two hotels in the federal capital.

When informed that the barricades outside the hotels had been removed, the chief justice said there are also other road blocks in the city which need to be removed.

The court asked the CDA to submit a report about the road blockade outside the headquarters of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) headquarters in G-9/4 within the next 24 hours.

The court was also told about different roadblocks in the cantonment areas of Rawalpindi. The court observed that the barricades in the cantonments will also be removed gradually and asked for a proper petition in this regard.

Representing one of the five-star hotels, senior counsel Naeem Bokhari said the blockades were removed from outside the hotels without hearing the point of view of the hotel management.

The court said there was no need for hearing the point of view of the hotel management when opening public roads.

The chief justice said terrorism is subsiding and that the court will order enhancing security where the court feels it is needed.

In one of the proceedings about encroachments in the capital city, the CDA had informed the court about 216 road blocks in the city. The court had asked the CDA to make other plans for security and not to encroach on roads in the name of security. The road blocks were then removed gradually.

Unplanned development in National Park

Another SC bench headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan on Thursday was surprised to know there is no master plan to check on unplanned development in the National Park Area in Murree, Kotli Sattian and Kahuta.

“It is strange that there is no master plan for such a sensitive area,” Justice Maqbool Baqar observed.

The court had taken up a 2015 petition moved by Mohammad Asjad Abbasi, Mohammad Fiaz and Mohammad Imran, seeking the preservation of the hilly areas by inviting the SC’s attention towards the violation of its 2005 direction issued in a suo motu case regarding the illegal occupation of 2,500 kanals of forest department land where the forest has been cut down.

Advocate General Punjab Shakeelur Rehman said one of the reasons for not having the master plan was the presence of some no-go areas, no-fly zones and no-build areas. He said the authorities have been asked to map out their jurisdictions and define their limits so that a proper plan can be formulated.

Tree felling in Murree Tehsil has been banned since 1994.

During the proceedings, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan said the government has commitments about everything but only on paper. He said Bhara Kahu and Rawalpindi were also very beautiful in the recent past and that unplanned development has made them unpleasant and ugly.

The court was told that the administration had issued show cause notices to a number of housing societies in Murree Tehsil including the Bahria Golf City and Commoners Sky Garden for violating different provisions of the no-objection certificates issued to them.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2018