Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been failed to seek approval for its plot located on Constitution Avenue in the federal capital whereas the construction on site without prior approval of prime minister is illegal as the said plot was allotted conditionally. Sources claimed that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and other relevant departments are silent on the issue just because of the pressure by judges and registrar.

According to reports, the civic authority had conditionally allocated a plot at Constitution Avenue to IHC for the construction of its permanent building but they said that the allotment was subjected to the formal approval of prime minister whereas sources inside CDA said that the IHC has been failed to produce such approval so far. Furthermore, the Prime Minister Secretariat had already written a letter to CDA, which highlighted the security concerns over the request made by IHC for the allotment of plot and directed the CDA to be careful while allocating plot to IHC on Constitution Avenue.

An allotment letter available with the Daily Times states that the CDA Board conditionally allocated a plot measuring three acres to the IHC in February 2014, which means that the allotment needs the endorsement of prime minister in this regard.

The sources inside the CDA briefed that the whole episode of the allotment of plot was happened due to the pressure of Judiciary, which was sustained by the government of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as they were not in favour of this allotment. The prime minister secretariat had asked CDA in 2011 to adopt careful attitude while allocating a plot for the construction of IHC on Constitution Avenue.

The letter written by the Prime Minister Secretariat in 2011 states that in case of the construction of IHC building including bar rooms for lawyers can disrupt the normal traffic on Constitution Avenue whereas the presence of IHC will also make Constitution Avenue accessible for general public, which can be a security threat for the whole red zone. The letter further advised the CDA to allocate some other space for the building of IHC and suggested Mauve area of sector G11 in this regard. The main reason behind these directions is to protect the smooth functioning in Red Zone.

A CDA official who was communicating with IHC in this regard on the condition of anonymity said, “The allotment of plot was made on the excessive pressure by the judges and registrar of IHC, who forced us to allocate a piece of land for the permanent building of the IHC at Constitution Avenue”. He further said, “Principally the IHC had no right to take plot on Constitution Avenue as this road and area is specific for national buildings such as Prime Minister Office, Parliament House, President House and Supreme Court of Pakistan whereas the IHC is capital’s institution same like Inspector General of Police Office, Commissioner Office and Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) etc”.

Another officer of the authority said, “The construction on the site without the approval of prime minister is illegal and such violation of rules by IHC is a question mark on the rule of law in the country. He further said, “CDA and other departments are silent on the issue just because of the pressure of judiciary”.

Besides this violation of the allotment letter, the construction of IHC’s building on Constitution Avenue would cause several problems for lawyers and general public as this is the sensitive area and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) has already banned the entry of public transport like taxi and vans in the area.

A senior police officer has also endorsed the point and said, “Yes, it is right that the construction of IHC building would create lot of problems. The building would be a security risk for the Red Zone as important buildings and foreign missions are situated on the same road”. He further said, “The frequent entry and exit of general public and lawyers would also create traffic problems”.

While responding on the issue, IHC Bar Association President Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri has accepted that the presence of IHC building on Constitution Avenue will cause problems for the general public and lawyers as currently they are facing parking issues in Supreme Court of Pakistan.

IHC Registrar Attiqur Rehman said that being a government official, he could not respond to any query by the media. He said that he would not comment on the issue of under-construction building of the IHC.