ISLAMABAD: The Isla­mabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday summoned the Capital Development Authority (CDA) building control director as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government petitioned against the sealing of KP House in Islamabad.

The CDA sealed KP Ho­­use for alleged building violations after police rai­ded it to arrest KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gan­da­pur, who had led a PTI ma­­rch on Islamabad against proposed amendments to Constitution and imprisonment of party founder Imran Khan.

According to the CDA, the building was sealed due to ‘illegal’ construction. It said notices were also ser­ved, but KP House administration did not comply.

The petition filed by the KP administration argued that the chief executive of the province had immunity from arrest, but the respondents did not spare him, by indulging into unfounded and unjustifiable criminal cases.

It termed the sealing of the KP House for ‘non-observance’ of CDA rules ‘shocking’.

The petition argued that since KP House was the provincial government’s territory, its sealing and removal of documents, letters, and deeds from its premises was unlawful.

It pointed out that a day before the CDA action, the Rangers and IG Islamabad had raided the KP House and disrespected the CM, adding that during the raid, some valuable articles, vehicles and furniture of KP House was damaged.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who took up the petition, iss­ued notices to the respondents after preliminary hearing and summoned the CDA official. The hearing was then put off till Thursday.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024