ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgement, Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench has ruled against constructions in public parks observing that entertainment is a fundamental right and such encroachments infringe on people’s recreational activities.

Justice Jawad Hassan issued the judgement while disposing of a petition filed against illegal constructions inside a children park in Rawalpindi.

The court cited Article 26 of the Constitution that guarantees that there must be no discrimination against any citizen regardless of race, sex, caste, religion or place of birth to access places of public entertainment or resort.

The judge defined the term ‘Entertainment’ reported in the case “Parks Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd v. director Excise and Taxation and others”, according to which “Entertainment means amusement, recreation or pastime. Amusement means anything that diverts the mind and pleases the mind. Recreation has the meaning of refreshment of the strength and spirits after toil and diversion while pastime connotes to pastime agreeably and in a pleasant manner.”

Justice Hassan observed that “failure to provide such basic necessary facilities is not only violative of Article 26 of the Constitution, which deals with the issue of access to places of public entertainment or resort which include a place to rest and take leisure and place for food and prayers.

It is also a clear violation of Articles 9, 14, 15, 20 and 38 of the Constitution which speaks about fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan such as right to life and liberty (Article 9), right to dignity (Article 14), right to freedom of movement (Article 15), right to food (Article 38), right to water (Article 9) and right to practice and propagate one’s religion (Article 20).“

The matter was pending since 2015 regarding construction carried out in the park reserved for children.

On Jan 25, 2022, LHC had observed that it was the fundamental right of the petitioners to have access to places of public entertainment or resort as guaranteed under Article 9 read with Article 26 of the Constitution.

The counsel for Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency submitted a report and parawise comments and clarified that the park was being restored to its original condition for which administrative approval had also been obtained from the concerned authority.

He said a meeting of the competent authority was also held on Dec 14, 2023, regarding execution of work in the park for improvement of necessary facilities in order to further strengthen the right of petitioners as well as other inhabitants residing in surrounding area of the park.

Justice Jawad Hassan noted that aforementioned comments clearly depicted that developments at the spot were intended for improvement of the park in question in a bid to accomplish the plan initiated by the government of Punjab under umbrella of duly approved scheme.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2024