ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday suspended the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to scrap the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project and allowed the Punjab government to continue work on the project.
The LHC had on January 25 declared several provisions of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) Act 2020 unconstitutional. After this, the provincial government reached out to the apex court seeking nullification of LHC’s verdict.
While hearing the appeal, a three-member bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan set aside the LHC verdict and ruled that the construction could go ahead on land where the owners had been paid. However, it restrained the authorities from any work on any land where actual landowners were yet to be compensated.
The bench also asked Advocate General Punjab Ahmed Owais the reason for not filing an intra-court appeal against the high court decision. To this, the AG pointed out that the Supreme Court was the ultimate forum for seeking relief.
Justice Aijazul Hassan inquired about the flaws in the LHC verdict. However, Punjab AG Ahmed Awais couldn’t answer the court’s question and drew Justice Lanjar’s ire. “You don’t even know what the case is about,” the judge remarked.
Justice Muzahir Naqvi remarked while addressing Punjab AG Awais that it seemed like he had come unprepared for the hearing. At this, the AG informed the court that the Punjab government was not a party in the case LHC announced the verdict for.
The court stated that it will figure out if inter-court appeals against the LHC verdict are maintainable or not. “The case will be forwarded to LHC if the appeals are maintainable,” the apex court remarked.
LHC verdict
In its decision to scrap the project, the LHC’s Justice Shahid Karim had also declared the acquisition of agricultural land for the project unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.
He had also directed the Ravi Urban Development Authority to return a loan of Rs5 billion to the Punjab government within two months and ruled that the authority had failed to comply with the laws and initiated the project without a master plan.
PM Imran says govt to approach SC
Later, Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed the provincial government’s plans to approach the SC on the case with “better preparation.”
Speaking to journalists during his visit to Rakh Jhok forest on Friday, the prime minister had said this time, the case would be presented in a better manner to appraise the court about the significance of the project in view of urban development and civic facilities.
The PM said there was a misconception about the Ravi Urban project that it was a housing society. Instead, he said, the grand project aimed at correcting the faults in the wake of unplanned construction of the city.
