ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved decision in Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and five faculty members’ petitions against the construction of Bhara Kahu bypass project.

IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will announce the decision on Dec 12 (Monday).

In his concluding arguments, counsel for the faculty members Kashif Ali Malik advocate argued that the QAU’s syndicate is holding the land as a trustee on behalf of the students, faculty and future generations and the same attracts the duties and obligations of a fiduciary.

The land in question has been earmarked for the construction of a project of Earth Sciences under China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

In this particular case the syndicate did not examine the proposed scheme, invite any objections, conduct a study or for that matter check the feasibility of the alternate, he said adding that while exercising the authority in relation to disposition of property vested in the Syndicate, highest standards of transparency must be ensured, otherwise it would tantamount to breaching fiduciary duty as trustee, he argued.

He pointed out that in this particular case, no summary was presented to the CDA Board. No recommendations were obtained from the planning wing or for that matter the Master Plan Review Commission constituted by the Federal Government.

Advocate Malik argued that in the summary presented to the federal cabinet it was admitted that conversion of plot earmarked for a specific purpose amounts to changing the master plan.

In the last hearing, CDA’s counsel Hafiz Arafat Ahmed argued before the court that the project has been commenced after getting all the necessary approval while the Environmental Impact Assessment was done while the matter was pending before the IHC.

He said that the project was initially devised by the National Highway Authority (NHA).

He said that the CDA had made another attempt about a year ago but the Pak-EPA did not clear the project.

According to him, the Pak-EPA approved the EIA of the project in the recent attempt.

He denied the claims of environmental degradation and chopping of trees as claimed by the petitioner – five faculty members of the QAU – and told the court that he has video footage of the site before commencement of the project and the most recent one.

Advocate Arafat argued that the faculty members trying to exploit the situation to get benefits for which the university is not entitled for.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sept 30 laid the foundation stone of the Bhara Kahu bypass and directed the National Logistics Cell (NLC) to complete the project in three months.

The 5-km-long road (including a 1-km flyover) will start from Murree Road near QAU stop and culminate on Murree Road near the Jugi bus stop adjacent to Punjab Cash and Carry from where a flyover will begin which will end outside Bhara Kahu bazaar towards Murree.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2022