Murree: LHC disposes off petition against ban on construction of high-rise buildings

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Terence J Sigamony
RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on Wednesday disposed of a writ petition against Murree Town Municipal Administration (TMA) for stopping construction of high-rise buildings on the hill resort.

Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq set aside the submission of 10 different petitioners against the TMA for halting the construction of some high-rise buildings.

The court directed the petitioners to move the relevant civil courts against the TMA if any injustice had been done to them and asked the TMA to proceed in accordance with the law.

Sardar Abdul Razik, counsel for the TMA, said 10 petitioners had moved the high court in 2005 when the administration halted them from constructing not more than two-storey commercial plazas and had prayed that they should be allowed to complete their buildings.

The petitioners had contended that they had got the site plans approved from the Murree TMA in accordance with its building by-laws, but they were not allowed to raise their buildings.

The TMA had maintained that the building by-laws did not permit to raise any construction above two-storey, as it was deemed unsafe for the human beings and environment of the popular hill station.

The town administration said the petitioners were raising their constructions above two- storey in violation of the site plans approved by the TMA and against its building by-laws. The administration also stated that the Supreme Court (SC) had earlier taken suo moto notice of high-rise buildings in Murree and directed the TMA to take action against the high-rise constructions.

Bail denied to narcotics case accused: Meanwhile, a division bench of the LHC comprising Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Justice Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah denied bail to a man for allegedly renting out his house to drug pushers. Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) had arrested him last year.

The accused, Raja Nadeem Kiani, in his bail plea stated that no recovery had been made from him and there was no witness against him except the fact that he had rented his house in Tulsa to Ishaq and Ashfaq, who allegedly prepared there cotton boxes to export mangoes but concealed brown heroin in the boxes.

The ANF had arrested two men in July last year from Islamabad Airport with 52 kg heroin concealed in mango boxes and recovered such boxes from a house rented by Kiani to Ishaq and Ashfaq who are yet to be arrested.

The court observed that the SC had denied bail to a man in a similar case after narcotics were seized from a hotel leased by him. The bench observed that a possibility of the involvement of owner of the house in the drug pushing could not be ruled out.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg11_9