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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan today (Tuesday) ordered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to demolish the “illegal” chambers built for lawyers on a sports ground in Sector F-8 of the capital.
An apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, upheld the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict and turned down lawyers’ plea to stay the demolition until an alternative place is provided for their chambers.
During the hearing, the chief justice asked on what basis should the court halt demolition of the illegal chambers. “Those who want to practice [law] should have their offices built somewhere else,” he remarked.
Shoaib Shaheeh, the petitioner’s lawyer, said that many courts have also been built on the ground, to which the chief justice ordered that these courts should also be pulled down.
In 2013, the lawyers had planned to build their offices on the football ground and obtained a judicial order from a civil judge. However, after resistance by local traders, the CDA demolished some 30 under-construction chambers.
Later in 2017, lawyers from the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) resumed construction before being stopped. The following year, construction resumed once again but came to a halt following a suo motu notice taken by then-Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.
