ISLAMABAD: Further construction on an F-8 football ground that has already been encroached upon by lawyers from the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) has started, after it was stopped at the end of last year.

Half the ground was appropriated by lawyers a few years ago, who have built their chamber there. Construction began again in December on the remaining half of the land, which was stopped after the matter was highlighted on various forums, but has now begun once again.

According to IBA President Riasat Ali Azad, since the construction was started by the previous cabinet of the bar, he cannot undo their decision.

Mr Azad added that the lawyers have a stay order in their favour.

CDA officials express reluctance to intervene, say the superior judiciary should instead

When asked how a public ground could be make inaccessible to the public, and how lawyers’ chambers could be constructed on public land reserved for recreational activities, the IBA president refused to comment.

Meanwhile, Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials Dawn spoke to expressed reluctance to intervene, saying the superior judiciary should instead.

“We cannot fight with lawyers. Why aren’t the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which regularly pass directives to remove encroachments from state land, taking action against the lawyers,” asked a CDA official who did not wish to be named.

Union Council 28 Chairman Fouzia Arshad, who has spoken out against the encroachment for the last two months, also called on the SC to look into the matter. She recently told Dawn that after learning about the new encroachments, she pleaded the case with the mayor, the chief officer of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and other concerned officials, but to no avail.

A CDA report states that the lawyers have also encroached on state land worth millions of rupees that was recently retrieved by the authority after the Pehalwan Restaurant was removed from the site.

IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had criticised the move while hearing another case. He had directed the CDA to submit a report on the issue as well as seeking the help of senior bar members present in the court at the time to resolve the matter. Most of the senior lawyers chose to stay quiet.

The CDA submitted the report as directed. Dated Dec 19, the report revealed that the lawyers were constructing chambers on public grounds.

“The action undertaken by the lawyers is completely unlawful and stands in violations of the CDA ordinance 1960,” the report stated. It also said that when the CDA visited the area to retrieve the land and asked the lawyers to stop the work, they presented a stay order issued by the court of senior civil judge II Mohammad Shabbir. The report has yet to be taken up by the IHC.

During the last hearing of the case a few days ago, Judge Shabbir did not extend the stay order which allowed the lawyers to construct their chambers and restrained the CDA from acting.

But despite the legal status of the case – currently in the CDA’s favour – the authority is not taking action against the encroachers.

CDA spokesperson Malik Saleem said: “We are unable to take action because of a stay order. Our legal team is fighting the case.”

He said an operation would be conducted to retrieve the ground once the stay order is vacated.

MCI opposition leader Ali Nawaz Awan said it was unfortunate that lawyers were encroaching on public ground. He said the lawyers had argued that they had built their chambers on public grounds because the government had not built their judicial complex and they did not have enough space.

He added: “I would say, whatever reason they have, there is no justification of the encroaching on state land.”

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2018