ISLAMABAD: During the hearing of a case on Wednesday regarding a petition which asks for a declaration that the state was bound to provide evicted persons with shelter and other amenities according to the Constitution, Supreme Court judge Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said that the federal and provincial governments were not focusing on the need for decent housing facilities for low income families.

“They believe that the 60pc of the population which lives below the subsistence level does not exist,” he said.

Justice Saeed was heading a three-judge Supreme Court bench that was taking up a petition moved by Advocate Abid Hassan Minto and his son Bilal Minto on behalf of Asim Sajja, requesting the court to declare that the state was responsible for providing shelter to those evicted.

SC judges say needs of 60pc of population which lives below subsistence level are not addressed

The petitioners had also expressed concerns over the way in which residents of the I-11 katchi abaadi were evicted by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on July 30 of last year.

However, in a report submitted before the court through Advocate Munir Paracha, the CDA said questioned the petitioner’s motives and said he wanted to use the Supreme Court for getting CDA owned land.

The civic authority also sought permission from the court to retrieve its land in the interests of justice.

The court declared the reports submitted by the CDA and the federal and provincial governments inconclusive with Justice Dost Mohammad Khan saying that the respective governments have not earmarked allocations for housing schemes for poorer people in the annual budget even though the manifestos of all political parties, including the PML-N, PPP and PTI included the provision of low cost housing to the poor.

Justice Saeed said that his impression after going through the reports and previous court orders was that the government was not interested in providing housing facilities to the poor.

“There priorities are different. They have money for luxury projects but nor for the poor,” he added.

The court said that it will not just rely on reports and that it will ensure that justice is done.

During the proceedings, Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan Sarwar Khan, who was earlier directed by the court to hold meetings in order to form a uniform housing policy, said that after two meetings, it was realised that no coordinated policy on housing existed.

Justice Saeed then remarked that there were no low cost colonies for labourers in the federal capital as well.

The Additional Advocate General Punjab Razzaq A. Mirza said that the provincial government had developed a law mandating housing societies in the province to allot 20pc of plots to poorer people and that the government had also initiated a number of schemes including the Ashiana housing scheme and Apna Ghar.

To this, the judges said that none of those schemes had been seen through.

Meanwhile, in its report CDA has said that though every citizen had a right to shelter, it was also true that Islamabad could not accommodate all those who migrated from across the country, which is why illegal settlements will no longer be regularised.

There are currently no provisions in the CDA Ordinance 1960 for the regularisation of illegal settlements.

Therefore, the provincial government, the housing ministry, the National Housing Authority and Federal Employees Housing can, on directions from the federal government, take necessary measures for the resettlement of illegal occupants.

The civic authority also requested the court to ask provincial governments to take necessary action regarding the improvement of the standard of life with the provision of basic amenities including education, health and recreational facilities.

The authority also said that since Pakistan was an agricultural country, the federal and provincial governments should formulate policies regarding the economic status of those in villages through measures such as loans for machinery.

The housing ministry and provincial governments can prepare low cost housing schemes for the present illegal occupants of CDA land in their native areas.

CDA also opposed the regularisation of illegal settlements or relocation within Islamabad on grounds that most of the allotted colonies, including those in G-7, G-8, F-10 or Farash have sold the land even though the plots were non-transferrable and then asked to be compensated as well for which the civic authority pays them a monthly instalment of Rs400 per month.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2016