Editor
- CJP Isa’s detailed order directs demolition of eating places.
- Wildlife Management Board to determine on finest use of land: SC.
- Apex courtroom requires evaluation of environmental harm.
Issuing its detailed verdict within the Margalla Hills case, the Supreme Court directed the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board to take over the eateries on September 11 with the assistance of police and the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
“On 11 September 2024, the Wildlife Board will take over the possession of the mentioned eating places with the total help of CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory Police, and the entrances to mentioned space shall be barricaded,” learn the 25-page judgment penned by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa.
The judgement comes after the apex courtroom on June 11 had ordered the closure of Monal Restaurant together with different eateries situated within the Margalla Hills National Park (MHPN).
The order of the three-member bench, comprising the CJP, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, got here in response to in response to a March 11 courtroom order through which it had sought the entire file of the land possession of the restaurant.
The courtroom had then additionally directed all different eating places within the National Park together with Monal to relocate throughout the three-month interval.
In its remarks, the SC mentioned that its goal is to make sure the safety of the National Park. It added that other than National Park, the pointless notices issued to all different eating places are terminated.
Stressing that it was solely specializing in the National Park, the courtroom mentioned: “All the leases granted to eating places situated in National Park are declared null and void.”
In his detailed judgement immediately which upheld the Islamabad High Court’s then-judge Athar Minallah’s ruling, CJP Isa mentioned that the eating places had been to be demolished with minimal disturbance to the wildlife and by avoiding harm to the bushes of the National Park.
The prime courtroom’s order additionally states that the Wildlife Board will decide how finest to utilise the mountain ridge the place the eateries had been situated and it could seek the advice of consultants and environmentalists to look at whether or not the foundations of the mentioned constructions must also be eliminated or the identical be left in and used to make a synthetic lake to gather rainwater which can be utilized to place out fires that erupt within the National Park.
“Under no circumstances ought to the constructing be left deserted/derelict nor depart any particles on the mentioned website. Every effort needs to be made to make sure that the mentioned land once more turns into an integral a part of the National Park,” mentioned the decision.
Furthermore, directing the defence secretary to make sure the enforcement of present legal guidelines, the SC has additionally ordered the CDA chairman to offer steering to the ministry on this regard.
Additionally, the Ministry of Climate Change secretary and Environmental Protection director basic have been ordered to conduct a survey of buildings within the space.
The order additionally requires an evaluation of environmental harm and measures which might be essential to forestall additional environmental degradation.
