ISLAMABAD: Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday extended a restraining order against the construction of Bhara Kahu bypass project within the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) till Oct 28.

The residents of Murree and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) also filed petitions to become party in the petition filed by five faculty members of QAU.

They pleaded that the bypass project was being executed to facilitate the public and requested the court to recall the stay order against execution of the project.

Justice Aurangzeb remarked that there was no doubt that the project was for public welfare but there was a need to fulfil legal formalities including the Environmental Impact Assessment. He observed that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had given valuable land to the university in the land swap. The lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that the CDA had submitted its case regarding environmental evaluation of the project and it was pending with it.

The court inquired about whether the CDA could start work on the project without getting report of the Environmental Impact Assessment, or whether an action against CDA officials should be taken.

The CDA’s lawyer on the other hand argued that the petitioners were trying to stop the execution of the project with malafide intention. He argued that the civic agency is completing all codal formalities in accordance with standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022