Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar ordered the relevant authorities to submit by next Tuesday recommendations on resolving the issues of Rawal Lake.

Hearing the suo motu case related to illegal structures and environmental degradation in Bani Gala on Tuesday, the Supreme Court also issued notices to owners of 11 properties bought on lease and remarked that they will not let public interest cases be delayed.

As the hearing went under way, the additional attorney general informed the three-member bench that he could not get in touch with Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, the state minister for Capital Administration & Development Division. At this, the chief justice remarked that they want the case to be resolved on Tuesday.

Detailing the highlights of the case, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said one issue pertains to the encroachments in the botanical garden, the other on whether illegal structures should be penalised or regularised and the last and most important pertains to ensuring cleanliness of Rawal Lake.

When the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman informed the court that it will take time to conduct a survey of illegal structures, the chief justice observed that they do not have time and directed him to speed up the process.

“The solution for everything is present, one must have the commitment to get it done,” he remarked.

The hearing was then adjourned until April 3.

Last year, the CDA had informed the apex court that more than 100 structures in Bani Gala, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chief Imran Khan’s residence, are illegal.

The case is based on a suo motu notice which originated from Imran Khan’s petition seeking the court’s intervention to stem illegal construction and environmental degradation in Bani Gala.

Published in Daily Times, March 28^th 2018.