ISLAMABAD, Sept 17: Though it was a tough task for Advocate Raja Saimul Haq Satti to file a petition of public interest against the alleged unlawful per head entry fee at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, it did have an unexpected upside to it in the legal world: Advocate Satti ensured that it was accepted without doubt that the airport despite its public reputation falls under the Lahore High Court's (LHC) jurisdiction and not that of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The Islamabad International Airport was built during General Ayub Khan's era. Roedad Khan, a former bureaucrat, recalled that during the general's regime a proposal was floated to rename it as the Ayub International Airport but the general rejected it as he knew with the regime change a name change would've been inevitable.

For most of its existence since then, the general perception was that the airport fell in Islamabads territorial jurisdiction even though it was built on land in Rawalpindi, and most legal cases pertaining to the airport would move back and forth between the various courts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. In 2008, it was rechristened as the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, but the registered domain name of the website remained www.islamabadairport.com.pk.

On July 1, 2011, Advocate Satti had approached the LHC's Rawalpindi bench to file the petition but the court's institution branch advised him to approach the IHC as the airport was administered by the federal government. Satti then headed to the IHC and filed a petition on July 12, 2011, which accepted the same without raising any objections regarding territorial jurisdiction. It was fixed for regular hearing on September 14, 2011 before IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman.

During the preliminary hearing, Satti presented his side of the case and the court returned the petition with an order stating, “Counsel for the petitioner when confronted about the territorial jurisdiction of this court with regard to Benazir Bhutto International Airport, frankly concedes that the said Airport falls within the territorial jurisdiction of the Hon'ble Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, and requests for the return of the instant petition for filing the same before the appropriate forum.”

Advocate Satti, with the order sheet of IHC CJ again approached the LHC Rawalpindi bench, this time the court admitted the petition and fixed the case for September 19.

Barrister Sajjad, a Rawalpindi based lawyer, said most of the lawyers have long assumed that the airport is in Islamabad; one reason for this was that the federal government through Ministry of Defence controls all the administrative matters of Islamabad airport, and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a department of the defence ministry, awards the contracts for different works at the airport.

On its part, the CAA admitted that the federal government controls the airport but added that it is in fact situated in the territory of the Punjab. Spokesman for CAA Islamabad, Mubarak Shah told Dawn that originally the current premises of Islamabad airport were for Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and it was called Chaklala Airbase.

As a parting note, Barrister Sajjad elaborated on the legal jurisdiction of the IHC by citing section 4 of Islamabad High Court Act, 2010: “Jurisdiction of Islamabad High Court shall have, in respect of Islamabad Capital Territory, original, appellate, re-visional and other jurisdiction as under the constitution or the laws in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, is exercisable in respect of the said territory by the Lahore High Court.”