ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued contempt of court notice against Luqman Ali Afzal, the owner of Monal Restaurant, but discharged similar notices against Secretary Cabinet Division Kamran Ali Afzal and Secretary Climate Change and Environment Coordination Eazaz A. Dar.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a three-judge Supreme Court bench took up contempt of court petitions for violating the court’s June 11 order to relocate restaurants, including the most frequented Monal, from the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) area.

The court took exception to a campaign launched against the Supreme Court allegedly at the behest of the owner of Monal Restaurant that the decision of relocating the eatery may render a number of employees jobless.

“Prima facie, the smear campaign against the judiciary amounts to contempt of court,” the court observed while dictating an order regarding issuance of the contempt notice. The court also noted the absence of the owner of the restaurant during the hearing and observed that he must be busy giving interview to some Vlogger.

Details also summoned from KP govt about amusement park inside Margalla Hills National Park

The court also summoned complete details from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government about Dino Valley, an amusement park, also situated inside the national park.

The Supreme Court was told that on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the government had withdrawn the July 19, 2024 notification to transfer the management of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) to the Interior Ministry.

The court regretted that the office of the prime minister should not be disparaged in such a manner, adding the high office should reflect before issuing any order whether the advice being rendered was in public interest or based on some personal interest.

The decision of the court can be criticised but launching of propaganda is not acceptable, remarked the CJP.

The director general of Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) told the court that owners of Pine City had secured a stay when the authority restrained the developers from raising construction at the site.

The CJP then asked retired Capt Siddiq Anwar, the owner of Pine City, what he was building inside the park area and whether he was still in the military or had been retired. And if he has retired, why he was not mentioning retired in his name.

The owner admitted that he had retired in 1999. When the CJP asked again why the address of Pine City also mentions General Headquarters (GHQ), the owner responded that it was his tax registration number.

The CJP however wondered whether he could indulge in commercial activity or business while in service, and what was his pension when he was retired. At this, the owner revealed that he was drawing a pension of Rs7,000 at that time.

“Then how a person who was taking a pension of Rs7,000 could purchase lands worth Rs350 million?” Mr Anwar however replied that he sold his ancestral land in his village and then purchased the land at the Margalla Hills from Nawab of Khanpur, who owned it.

“Does not it belong to Allah,” the CJP observed. But the owner said God had bestowed the land on the Nawab.

When the CJP told him that he was destroying the Margalla Hills, the owner maintained that he was developing the hills and wanted to build a nature adventure park.

But the name of Pine City suggests some kind of housing society, CJP quipped. The owner replied that he also faced losses due to the name, adding he had also planted many trees in the area. But the court made it clear that no construction work could be done inside the national park.

The owner again contested by stating that the land he owned was outside the national park area. The CJP observed that he could keep his ownership but cannot raise any infrastructure on these lands.

The CJP also declared development of the housing sector inside the national park as elite capture, adding land adjacent to the park was lucrative since it will fetch a higher price from the buyers.

He also asked the secretary cabinet who was behind the notification for the transfer of the IWMB from the climate change ministry to the interior ministry. The cabinet secretary expressed his ignorance and said it was issued on the direction of the prime minister.

The CJP however regretted that the secretary cabinet had labelled the prime minister to protect his brother Luqman.

The court also inquired from CDA Chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Ali Ranndhawa whether he had seen banners on streetlights on Constitution Avenue and on the grilled wall of the National Assembly mentioning the CDA and ‘Pine City.’

“Will CDA take action against the society when people are robbed of their hard earned money?” The CDA chairman told the court that the private housing society comes under the jurisdiction of the KP government.

The case will again be taken up after two weeks.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2024