ISLAMABAD: Despite Supreme Court orders to raze Monal and La Montana eateries situated inside the Margalla Hills National Park to restore the affected area to its natural habitat, the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) was stopped from further demolition of the structures on Tuesday after a contractor obtained a restraining order from a lower court.

The restraining order said that the wildlife board had not observed relevant rules and procedures of PPRA and caused loss to the public exchequer.

However, the IWMB said government funds were not used for demolition of the structures and removal of debris. The hearing of the case was fixed for September 30.

The order issued by Senior Civil Judge Mohammad Inamullah directed the station house officer (SHO) of Kohsar police station to enforce the restraining order, preventing IWMB from continuing the demolition of the restaurants. The court authorised the police to arrest and present any IWMB officials found resisting the order before the court.

Judge orders police to arrest any IWMB officials found resisting order and present them in court

The halt in the demolition has raised questions about the ongoing efforts to restore the Margalla Hills National Park to its natural state as mandated by the Supreme Court.

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An official from the IWMB said, “Since the Supreme Court’s orders, the owners of these eateries have resorted to various tactics, including harassing and threatening IWMB staff, to disrupt and delay the demolition process.”

The wildlife board had requested the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the provision of heavy machinery and staff for the demolition of the restaurants, which was not provided to delay the demolition process, the official alleged.

According to a document of the CDA Building Control, seen by Dawn, the management of La Montana had been warned of several building violations in 2019.

The violations included deviation from the approved plan, illegal/unauthorised construction made on open area with office parlor, general car parking occupied by La Montana, encroachment on CDA land and illegal fibre and steel TV screens on Deck 1 and 3.

The CDA gave the management of La Montana 15 days to remove these violations or face action.

According to the licence agreement of La Montana in 1999, CDA had rejected the design area of 20x40 proposed by its management, and reduced the area to 16x35.

However, on Tuesday, police turned up on demolition sites to stop further work, warning to arrest IWMB staff if the directions were violated.

On August 21, the Supreme Court ordered the removal of the restaurants. In its detailed order, the apex court had directed the IWMB to take possession of the restaurants namely Monal, La Montana and Gloria Jeans, and obligated the CDA and the police to assist the wildlife board.

Recently, the court also rejected the review petitions. In a damning observation, the court had dubbed the status of Luqman Ali Afzal, owner of the Monal Group of Companies, no better than that of a trespasser who had no right to operate in the protected area.

Likewise, La Montana and Gloria Jeans were in total disregard of the provisions of the Islamabad Wildlife (Protection, Preservation and Management) Ordinance 1979, observed Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in a 13-page order.

Headed by CJP Isa, a three-judge bench, also consisting of Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, rejected a set of review petitions moved by the Monal Group of Companies, the Capital View Point Restaurant (La Montana), Sunshine Heights and a retired brigadier, Falak Naz Bangash, of the defense ministry.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024