ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice chairman and the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) director general and sought details of allotments made in the SCBA Housing Society.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued notices in the petition challenging the land acquisition in the housing scheme.

Land owners, Ahsan Imtiaz Bhatty, Yasar Khan Swati and Irshad Swati challenged the decision of the Land Supervisory Committee (LSC) constituted by the FGEHA which was presided over by Justice Maqbool Baqir.

The committee recommended to the FGEHA to acquire land for the society under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act that allowed compulsory acquisition of land for public purpose.

The additional secretary of the SCBA, Shireen Imran, appeared before the court to respond to the petitioners.

The petition alleged that the committee had recommended acquisition of land for the society under Section 4 of the act which is against the dictum laid down by the IHC judgement related to acquisition of land.

According to the petition, the FGEHA on the instruction of the LSC is forcibly acquiring petitioners’ land at a nominal price under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act despite the fact that it is not being acquired for public purpose but for a real estate project.

The petition requested the court to declare the LSC illegal and its directions as void ab initio.

Deputy attorney general Syed Mohammad Tayyab argued before the court that the petitioners had already filed the petitions before sessions court, high court and the apex court and they were not entertained.

He said an overwhelming majority of the members have invested their hard earned money in the society and they have been waiting for the development for months.

Justice Minallah after hearing the preliminary arguments adjourned the hearing for three weeks.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2021