ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Climate Change on Saturday informed Islamabad High Court (IHC) that a commission for observance of laws related to the protection of environment has been notified.

After this, the IHC reserved order on a petition seeking contempt proceedings against the city managers and the environment ministry’s top officials for defying a verdict.

The IHC last week had summoned the secretaries of interior and climate change, the chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the director general Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-Epa) on the petition seeking contempt proceedings against them for not implementing orders related to unauthorised construction in Banigala and E-11.

In 2018, while accepting identical petitions against the deterioration of Banigala’s environment due to the proliferation of unregulated construction and high-rise buildings in E-11, the IHC had issued directions to constitute a commission for implementing the CDA bylaws related to environment protection.

Court reserves judgement on contempt plea against city managers

The court had declared illegal “construction of houses or buildings of any nature whether in the Golra Revenue Estate [E-11] or the area comprising Banigala which have been or are intended to be constructed in violation of the master plan, the ordinance of 1960, the Zoning Regulations 1992, the ordinance of 1966 and the Wildlife Ordinance of 1979.”

The court had set a six-month deadline to implement the orders. However, when the court took up the contempt petition against the respondents, none of them was present in the courtroom.

The climate change ministry informed the IHC that the commission had been notified as per the court’s direction.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that due to negligence of the city managers, the federal capital lacks basic necessities.

He said the successive heads of the CDA and the Islamabad capital administration failed to stop violation of the master plan.

Last week, Justice Minallah recalled that through the 2018 order “the federal government was directed to notify Dr Pervaiz Hassan, senior advocate Supreme Court, as the implementation commission. The commission constituted by the court included experts and representatives from the relevant fields. The elected representatives were also part of the commission, including Minster for Planning Asad Umer.”

Justice Minallah observed that “the reluctance on part of the CDA and the federal government to implement the commission’s report notified by Dr Hassan needs to be explained. The officials who will appear on the next date will also explain the modes of accountability for acts or omissions, which contribute towards environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem.”

In the previous order, the IHC said: “Chief commissioner is directed to aid and assist the authority in ensuring that no building or house is constructed in any protected area of Islamabad.”

The bench appointed Dr Hassan as the head of the committee for the implementation of the commission’s recommendations.

The court verdict also makes it mandatory for buildings seeking regularisation in the aforementioned areas to have a certificate from the federal government supported by the environmental commission.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2020