PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has issued notices to the provincial government, Peshawar Cantonment Board’s executive officer and other officials seeking their response to a petition against encroachments on several busy roads in the cantonment area here.

A bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Shakeel Ahmad issued the order after holding a preliminary hearing into the petition of local resident Shaukatullah Shah, who sought orders for the respondents, including provincial chief secretary, Peshawar commissioner and deputy commissioner, cantonment board executive officer and other officials, to demolish encroachments on government property, including roads.

It later fixed the hearing until July 11.

The petitioner also requested the court to declare the car parking on government property, especially on Fakhre Alam Road, Kalabari Road and Saddar Road in Peshawar cantonment, illegal.

Counsel for the petitioner, Bashir Khan Wazir, said that his client was a senior citizen and had retired as a BPS-17 officer of the communication and works department.

He said that shopkeepers had encroached on government property in the Peshawar cantonment area, including roads, without any hindrance from authorities.

The lawyer pointed out that the shopkeepers had illegally occupied government property on the Fakhre Alam Road and Kalabari Road.

He said that his client had specifically visited these areas and requested the shopkeepers to remove their encroachments from roads but some of them had warned the petitioner of dire consequences if he continued with his anti-encroachment efforts.

Mr Wazir said that inhabitants of those areas as well as motorists and pedestrians had been facing inconvenience due to those encroachments. He said that it was the responsibility of the cantonment board to look into the matter, remove those encroachments and fine encroachers.

The lawyer, however, said that authorities had turned a blind eye to illegal structures. He said that several rent-a-car companies operating in those areas had occupied roads and spaces to park their vehicles.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2023