LAHORE, April 28: The Parks and Horticulture Authority on Monday challenged the interim stay order issued by a senior civil judge against the construction of food street on the Fort Road. The district and sessions judge heard the case.

The judge had stayed the construction of this street till Tuesday (today) and put the PHA director, along with district Nazim and local bodies’ secretary, under notice on a petition challenging this project.

Petitioner Abdul Qayyum had pleaded that the development of this street would lead to the promotion of certain unIslamic and unethical practices already prevailing in this area for centuries.

The PHA counsel, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, pleaded for the vacation of the stay orders, saying the civil judge did not appreciate the facts of this case properly and stayed the development work without hearing the respondent, which was suffering a huge monetary loss on this account.

According to the petitioner, the PHA Fort Road had been chosen for the food street project because it was closer to historical buildings like the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort, Minar-i-Pakistan and Allama Iqbal’s tomb. The PHA said the development of the food street would provide a unique opportunity to the local citizens and foreign visitors to visit these sites as well.

The petitioner raised the legal proposition that all the people living anywhere in the country were to be treated equally, and this development project could not be stopped merely on the grounds that it was being carried out in an area known for prostitution.