In what is nothing less than a landmark judgment, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to immediately seal the Monal Restaurant and take over the Margalla Greens Golf Club as both were built on encroached land. The court also declared the military’s claim to 8,000 acres of Margalla Hills National Park illegal. During the hearing of a case on encroachments in the national park, the IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said: “This court will protect the wider public interest.”
This judgment is undoubtedly in public interest as encroachment of state land by the powerful and influential of the country has become too often an occurrence. The public that pays taxes to ensure the maintenance of parks and forest lands is sidelined while the elite enjoys lavish lifestyles in complexes built on these lands. The IHC ruling will then only set a precedent for everyone to follow the law, especially considering that it just comes days after the same court ordered demolition of a navy club and farmhouses constructed in the federal capital on the grounds of them being illegal. The club was constructed near the Raval Lake for commercial activity.
In a detailed judgement the court ruled: “The engagement of the armed forces in an activity which is a transgression from the constitutional mandate e.g. undertaking commercial or real estate ventures etc. is definitely not in the public interest,” and issued directions to initiate criminal proceedings against a former naval chief for allowing the project. It is only hoped that the ruling of the court is followed through because we have seen stay orders being granted with the judgment being stalled until it is forgotten. The case of a cinema constructed on land meant for defence purposes on Main Rashid Minhas Road near Askari-4 in Karachi is in front of us. Till date the building stands tall with commercial activities resumed following the ease in Coronavirus-related restrictions.
Land-grabbing by powerful mafia is an unfortunate reality in this country. The involvement of those elected to govern or protect the citizenry only erodes the civilian’s trust in state institutions. While the recent IHC judgment should be upheld so that no one is allowed – irrespective of their stature in the society – to encroach upon state land, one must also question the existence of such cases. What has allowed certain institutions or people to take arbitrary decisions in their own interest?
