ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has empowered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to take action against high-rise buildings in H-13.

Last year, the CDA had published a notice in local newspapers regarding the status of H-13 and that of a number of residential schemes and apartment buildings being constructed in the sector.

As per the master plan of Islamabad, northern half of H-13 is reserved as a green area/buffer zone between Islamabad and Rawalpindi while the southern half is reserved for special buildings and institutions.

A private builder earlier this year filed a petition in the IHC requesting for direction to the CDA not to publish notices in newspapers as it was tantamount to interfering in the affairs of his company.

CDA additional legal adviser Amir Latif Gill told the court that H-13 falls within Zone-I where construction could be carried out only with the permission of the civic agency.

Legal adviser informs IHC that the sector falls in Zone-I where construction cannot be carried out without permission of civic agency

The petitioner adopted before Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani that their high-rise project in H-13 was about to complete and they had applied for electricity and gas connections. However, because of CDA’s notices the distribution companies were reluctant to provide them utility services.

The court perused the relevant record and noted that besides seeking restraining order the petitioner had also sought provision of services from Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL).

The court observed that “CDA cannot be restricted from exercising its supervisory role under the law and if any third party right has been created under this project, it might harm public at large and in such eventuality CDA shall be liable for its misconduct.”

The court order said: “CDA being regulatory authority of Islamabad is duty bound to protect the rights of the citizen and to keep them aware about the status of any housing scheme/construction project, and in this regard no restriction can be imposed upon CDA, rather CDA is well in its powers to issue media statements against any project started in Islamabad in order to create awareness among public at large.”

The CDA member planning informed the court that the construction of high-rise buildings in H-13 was illegal, adding in the instant case the petitioner company had not filed any application seeking permission for the construction.

Justice Kayani noted that the petitioner company did not file any application before the CDA seeking permission till date. The court advised the company to file an application with the CDA which would be decided within three months.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2019