IHC orders Zartaj, Amin Aslam, others to submit reply till Sept 25

Muragzar Zoo Case

By Obaid Abrar Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted time to Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul and Adviser to the Prime Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam to submit reply against show-cause notices in a case pertaining to shifting of zoo's animals to sanctuary.

Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Justice Athar Minallah conducted the hearing. Previously, the court had issued show-cause notices to Zartaj Gul, Amin Aslam, CDA chairman and other members of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) pertaining to contempt of court.

During the hearing, the CDA chairman submitted reply and sought unconditional apology from the court. He prayed the court to withdraw its show-cause notice. The chief justice said animals' death in Muragzar Zoo was a sad incident which showed that how the country's affairs were being run. No one was ready to take responsibility of the mistreatment with animals, he said, adding everyone accusing the lower staff for carelessness.

The chief justice said the climate ministry had disconnected itself with the matter. The officers were used to take the membership of IWMB but they never bother to even attend its meetings. He said a number of animals disappeared from the zoo which was an embarrassing incident and added even the animals' food was stolen.

The national park had been destroyed, he said, adding the court had not summoned anyone in person so far through a formal show-cause notice. He said first the responsibility would be fixed, then the court would summon the relevant people in person.

Zartaj Gul and Amin Aslam's lawyers prayed the court to grant time for the submission of comments. To this, the bench said all the members of the board had filed their answered. The court has directed the remaining people to submit their reply before September 25.