CDA told to resolve plot dispute

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman to resolve a 60-year-old dispute involving the allotment and subsequent cancellation of a plot, observing that affected people must be compensated before development projects are completed. Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by senior citizen Muhammad Murtaza. Barrister Adil Aziz Qazi and other lawyers appeared on behalf of the petitioner, while the CDA Member Estate appeared for the authority. The court expressed strong displeasure over the absence of the CDA chairman despite being summoned in person. "Where is the CDA chairman? We had summoned him," the judge asked. The Member Estate replied that the chairman could not attend and that he had appeared on his behalf. Justice Minhas observed that the chairman had been summoned in his personal capacity and directed the Member Estate to tell him to appear immediately, wherever he was, including the Prime Minister's House if necessary. The court subsequently adjourned the hearing until the chairman appeared, observing that the matter could not be resolved in his absence. The judge remarked that if the chairman did not appear, the court knew how to summon him. When the hearing resumed, CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf appeared before the court. Justice Minhas questioned why he had failed to appear earlier despite being summoned and asked whether the Member Estate exercised his powers. The chairman explained that he had been attending a security-related meeting. "You were summoned, so you should have come," the judge observed, asking why a case dating back to 1966 had still not been resolved. He also questioned why the authority was relying on a letter issued in 2023 in a decades-old matter. Justice Minhas said people frequently approached the court in distress over the demolition of their homes, while the petitioner's father's land was now at the centre of the dispute. "If there is another authority responsible for resolving this matter, tell us and we will issue an order," the judge remarked.