ISLAMABAD: Following the malfunctioning of an elevator in which the lead counsel of the PTI chief along with 18 people remained stranded for over 40 minutes, the administration of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has expedited the inquiries pertaining to multiple defects in the high court building.

After the incident, the IHC administration on August 25 ordered an inquiry into the elevator malfunction and sought a report which was submitted to the chief justice on Monday.

A senior official told Dawn that the IHC chief justice had already ordered the inquiry into the out-of-order air-conditioning system and other flaws in the construction of the building.

According to him, the inquiry committee will record statements of the relevant officials, including the sessions judges who were deputed to oversee the construction work.

Contractor may face NAB, FIA proceedings after completion of inquiry

The matter might be forwarded to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) once the inquiry is concluded, an official said.

Sources further revealed that former IHC chief justice Athar Minallah while presiding over a meeting last year remarked that the contractor would be sent to jail first and the high court might be shifted later on. The former chief justice was in favour of sending the case to NAB, but the decision was postponed after relevant quarters expressed apprehensions that the construction would be delayed if the case was remanded to the bureau.

The construction started in November 2013 and it took about a decade to complete. The building became operational in June this year. When the high court was moved to the new building on Constitution Avenue, a number of problems emerged.

The HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) which had cost Rs550 million was out of order. Most recently, the faulty elevator hinted that the building posed serious threats to the lives of litigants, lawyers, court staffers, and even judges of the high court.

Moreover, the boundary wall of the IHC collapsed earlier this month and an inquiry was ordered by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq. Following the collapse of the boundary wall, the Pakistan Public Works Department wrote a letter to the housing ministry, saying that “the filtration plant of the newly constructed Islamabad High Court, is not functioning properly. HVAC System which was 100pc paid to the contractor in June 2022” was out of order.

It said, “Resultantly, the additional split units have been provided” for “judges and senior staff” whereas the lower staff was working without air-conditioning facility. Similarly, the firefighting system, IT, lightning protection system, and security systems are yet to be installed in the IHC building.

In October last year, the resident engineer of the building pointed out certain issues regarding the elevators, his advice, however, apparently fell on deaf ears. The engineer in his letter had pointed out that the lift operating panel installed in the chamber of the court block and the office block were not the same in design and shape.

In a subsequent letter on May 8, the resident engineer again pointed out that the elevators as well as other electrical and mechanical systems were not as per specification and asked the housing ministry to immediately look into this matter.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2023