Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday stopped work on the Bhara Kahu Bypass only to the extent of Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) till next date, and served notices on the respondents in a plea filed by the QAU professors. The IHC’s Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, in his written order, directed said that the work should be stopped only on the land of the university till October 24. The court also asked the QAU’s vice chancellor to tell whether the institution was given alternate land. It also sought the evaluation report of Environmental Protection Agency on the project. It questioned that whether the project was being executed without the approval of the agency. At the outset of hearing, the petitioners’ lawyer Kashif Malik adopted the stance that the bypass was being constructed on the university’s land. Justice Aurangzeb asked whether it was not a public project and whether it was being constructed on the university’s land after demolishing its building. In Saudi Arabia even mosques were razed to the ground for such projects, he added. The lawyer said the project was in violation of the Federal Capital’s Master Plan. The road would pass through the university, he added. The counsel for the Capital Development Authority (CDA) adopted the stance that the university had already given its land’s possession for the road, and the civic body would face irreparable loss if the work on the project was stopped. The CDA had also given alternate 250 kanals land to the university after acquiring 200 kanals, he added. The lawyer said the university was a defaulter of Rs1 billion of the CDA. The project was approved by all the relevant forums. The court noted that it seemed that the university was given comparatively more valuable land. How it could issue a stay order when the university’s building was not affected with the construction. It said that then it would summon the vice chancellor as such a decision was taken by the administration instead of any individual. The petitioners’ counsel said trees were being cut at the location of bypass which would also damage to the environment.