PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday rejected the plea of the University Town schools and colleges to order the de-sealing of their nonconforming premises after the posh residential area’s administration informed it about the closedown of 157 such commercial entities, including campuses.

Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Younas Taheem later fixed May 9 for the next hearing into a contempt of court petition filed against non-implementation of an earlier court order through which the University Town administration was directed to take action against all commercial activities taking place the residential locality situated in Town III.

The bench ruled that the nonconforming entities should continue to be sealed until the hearing.

It asked the administration not to take any further action against other entities until further order in light of an amendment recently made to the KP Local Government Act, 2013 through which the government has allowed commercial activities in the area for another five years.

Admin says it has sealed 157 such premises in Peshawar’s University Town

The bench also issued a notice to the provincial government in a fresh petition filed by Dr Khushnood Ali Baz and several other residents of the area against that amendment.

It decided to club the contempt of court petition and fresh petition.

Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah, lawyer for the petitioners, said in sheer disregard of the judgment of the high court outlawing commercial activities in residential areas, the government recently passed the KP Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2017, through which the amendment was made to the local government law.

He said through that amendment, commercial activities had been made permissible, while a new sub-section had been incorporated to Section 9 of the Act stating that any land or building in the University Town, Peshawar, should be permissible for commercial, educational, government or semi-government offices, diplomatic mission office, financial institutions, guest houses, clinics for a period of five years.

The lawyer said by passing the said amendment, the government had tried to render the judgment of the high court ineffective.

Sabauddin Khattak, lawyer for the administration of Town III, said 157 nonconforming entities in the University Town, including educational institutions, health facilities, plazas, shops, offices and beauty parlours, had been sealed.

The lawyer for some educational institution requested the court to order the de-sealing of the campuses saying examinations of O Level and A Level were scheduled to take place in near future.

The bench observed that relaxation had been given to those institutions for many months but during that period, they had not made any alternate arrangements.

Lawyer Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah said in Mar 2015, the high court had dismissed several petitions through which the court was requested to allow certain commercial activities in the University Town.

The lawyer said the court while dismissing the petitions had issued directives to the government to immediately wind up commercial activities carried out in the University Town houses and had given four months’ time for ending educational institutions and health facilities in residences.

Later on, when the said directives were not implemented the court had initiated contempt of court proceedings against several administrative officers.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2017