LAHORE: Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday made it clear to the Punjab government that the promulgation of a new ordinance would have no effect on the stay orders against the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project (RRUDP).

The judge stated this while rejecting an assertion of Advocate General of Punjab Ahmad Awais that since the Ravi Urban Authority (amendment) Ordinance 2021 had been issued to cover legal infirmities, the stay orders granted by the court and the petitions against the project stood infructuous.

Justice Karim expressed his displeasure and clarified that the stay orders of court were intact and no acquisition proceedings shall continue. The judge further clarified that if the government wanted to challenge the stay orders, it could file an appeal before the Supreme Court but by issuance of ordinance through executive instrument the stay orders of the court could not be nullified.

The judge extended the stay orders granted to the petitioners and farmers and observed that the government was responsible for delaying the proceedings.

The case was adjourned till Nov 2 for further arguments.

Earlier, Advocate Sheraz Zaka on behalf of the petitioners argued that if the project was bereft of environment impact assessment then how the project could be presumed to be of public purpose. He said the project would deprive the farmers of their precious land and such deprivation was an infringement of fundamental rights.

In this case, the judge had stayed the process of land acquisition for the project for not meeting the legal requirements and environmental laws.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2021