ISLAMABAD: A deposition by the Survey of Pakistan before the Supreme Court on Wednesday may decide whether the federal government implemented evenly its notification of 2007 that disallowed all private structures in close vicinity of a nuclear research facility on the outskirts of the capital city.

A three-judge bench of the court, headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, has called the survey department so that it could decide the petition of a resident of the Nilor suburbs that natives’ rights have suffered while several private housing societies exist in the area.

A senior official of the Survey of Pakistan would explain to the court whether any private construction activity around the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Technology (Pinstech) violates the restriction imposed through the notification that no structures should exist within 2,000 yards of the sensitive complex, unless cleared by the Director General of the Strategic Planning Division.

Petitioner Raja Safeer Ahmed seeks the implementation of the judgment the Supreme Court gave in March this year that the government implement the restriction without any discrimination.

Pinstech is a premier national research institute, closely connected with the country’s defence. Started in the 1960s, it is run by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

Since 1961, the government has acquired 876 acres, 19 kanals and 16 marlas of private land in Nilor, located in Zone-IV of the Islamabad Capital Territory, in different stages for the purpose.

In his review petition, Raja Safeer pleaded that his family, like others, had been living in the area for generations. Because of the restrictions on the land use, the inhabitants could neither dispose of the land nor raise structures on them freely.

While the authorities demolished any structure he raised, he alleged two housing societies, Al-Hamra Avenue Housing Society and the Royal City Housing Scheme Islamabad, in the same restricted area were not touched.

When the case was taken up by the Supreme Court bench on Tuesday, Advocate Ahmer Bilal Soofi, representing Pinstech and the National Command Authority (NCA), argued that it was the job of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to execute the March 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court.

The defence ministry, which oversees the functioning of Pinstech and NCA, could not do that because it does not have any machinery to restrict or check the violation of prohibited parameters.

Maybe the two housing societies were carrying on constructions without getting a No Objection Certificate (NOC), or on getting a conditional NOC subject to the approval of NCA, he said, claiming that the CDA was not cooperating at all with the defence ministry in this regard.

The government notification of March 26, 2007 was supportive of the NCA’s international obligation, as required by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to keep a low population zone around sensitive installations.

But the court was not amused by his arguments.

Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk warned the Supreme Court could review its earlier direction, meaning allowing construction activity in the area if the earlier judgment of the court was not implemented.

“We will strike down the notification of restricting construction activity,” observed Justice Gulzar Ahmed, another member of the bench.

Advocate Tariq Mehmood, representing Al-Hamra Avenue Housing Society, however, emphasised the need of a clear demarcation so that it should be known which construction was coming inside the restricted area.

Advocate Mian Hanif, representing CDA, told the court that CDA was carrying out a survey to demarcate premises situated in the prohibited area.

However, the court ordered that a responsible officer from the Survey of Pakistan, a department of the defence ministry, should come on Wednesday to explain the situation.

Published in Dawn December 3rd , 2014