LAHORE, July 19: A Lahore High Court full bench has been moved with the contention that the Punjab Entertainment Company started civil works at the cineplex project at Doongi ground, M M Alam Road, soon after the court dismissed for non-prosecution a writ petition filed by the Karachi-based NGO Shehri-CBE (Citizens for Better Environment) against the project.

Comprising Justice Syed Sakhi Husain Bokhari, Justice Mohammad Bilal Khan and Justice Fazle Miran Chauhan, the LHC bench issued notices to the Punjab government and the PEC on the application of the lawyer-petitioner, Advocate Mohammad Azhar Siddiqui, who has requested the court to issue a direction to the respondents to stop the work on the project.

The court adjourned till July 27 the hearing of the application which will be taken up along with Advocate Azhar’s main writ petition through which he has challenged the project on the plea that a public park can’t be turned into a commercial place.

Advocate Azhar also submitted that the PEC, a public sector commercial corporate body, had misconceived the dismissal of the petition of the Shehri-CBE on technical grounds, particularly when the NGO had already moved the court for the restoration of its writ petition. He submitted that the resumption of the work on the project was an act in malafide intention.

Meanwhile, the same LHC bench issued notices on the application through which the Shehri-CBE moved the court for the restoration of its writ petition. The petitioner pleaded that a public interest petition should be decided on merit and not dismissed merely on technical grounds. This petition will be heard along with the main petition on July 27.