ISI given 4-week extension to open Islamabad's Aabpara road for traffic

Published October 16, 2018
A view of the SC building. — File
A view of the SC building. — File

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday gave the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) another four weeks to reopen the Shahra-i-Suharwardy at Aabpara junction.

The ISI had closed the main artery in 2008 after terrorist attacks on several important government buildings. On July 6, the court had ordered for the road blocks to be removed within two months.

“Make a bombproof wall or shift the headquarters elsewhere,” the CJP had observed at the time.

The court has already issued directions to remove encroachments from all roads of the capital city. The court has said it has to ensure supremacy of the law at all cost.

"We had called the director general of ISI to court in the previous hearing," said Chief Justice Saqib Nisar who was heading the bench hearing the case today.

He added: "We already gave you two months' time to do this; why has the road not been opened yet?"

Members of the defence department told the court that most of the road has been cleared but it has not been opened for traffic.

"What good is an empty road for the people if it cannot be used," the chief justice remarked.

"The transfer of devices is taking a long time," Director Law Branch Ministry of Defence Brigadier Falak Naz told the court.

After enquiring how much more time the ISI would take to open the road, the court gave a four-week extension.

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