Islamabad High Court orders de-sealing KP House

ISLAMABAD: Just two days after the Capital Development Authority (CDA) sealed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in the federal capital, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the authority to open it.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq issued the order during the hearing of a petition filed by KP's provincial government.

Presenting arguments during the hearing, the authority's lawyer said that illegal construction has taken place on the property and some dues are also still pending with first notice given to KP administration in 2014.

Justice Farooq told the CDA lawyer that the authority can issue notices to seal the property according to the law. “Don't make it seem like you are targeting someone.”

Presenting arguments during the hearing, the authority's lawyer said that illegal construction has taken place on the property and some dues are also still pending with the first notice given to the KP administration in 2014.

The lawyer insisted that the lease of the property expired in 2014.

“When did CDA issue notices?” asked the IHC chief justice, insisting that a notice should have been issued even before sealing the house.

The judge further remarked: “It is a provincial house. [It] is shameless to seal it.”

The KP government, a day earlier, filed a plea against the provincial house being sealed by the CDA.

In its petition, the provincial government maintained that the house — a property of the KP government — had been sealed “illegally”.

The plea added that when the KP administration moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the CDA's action, it was told to take the matter to the IHC — which was termed as the proper forum for the case.

The court was requested to declare the sealing of the house and the act of taking the KP government’s vehicles into custody “illegal”, while seeking to reopen the property.

The matter came to the fore after the CDA, in an unprecedented move, on Monday sealed the provincial government’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House for violating building by-laws.

“This premises has been sealed on account of building violations,” a notice pasted on the main gate by a CDA team led by Special Magistrate CDA Muhammad Asif said.

According to the authority’s record, the first notice to the KP government was issued by the CDA Building Control Section on April 5, 2014, directing it to halt illegal construction on the premises of the provincial property.

The CDA had also served notices on the KP government in February and May this year to get the lease of the plot on which the KP House is constructed in Sector F-5/2 renewed.

For that purpose, the provincial government was required to apply for a No Objection Certificate, but the needful was not done.