Lahore: SC bars 45 plazas construction Stops demolition of 10 high-rises

[LRE]

SC bars 45 plazas construction



Stops demolition of 10 high-rises

Tuesday, August 05, 2008
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

A DIVISION bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday restrained the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) from conducting an operation against at least ten already constructed commercial plazas and stopped the construction of 45 others in the city.

Earlier, owners of Big City, Rabi Centre and other plazas pleaded before the SC that the matter pertaining to the alleged illegal construction of high-rise buildings was pending before the apex court and no final verdict has been given so far, the Lahore Development Authority, which had served them notices to demolish their constructed buildings may be barred from taking any action against them till a final decision in this regard.

Advocate General Khawaja Harris appearing before the bench said that he had cautioned the Lahore Development Authority from issuing notices to the applicants at this stage.

Supporting the plea of the applicants, he said the Punjab chief minister also want to wait for court’s decision before taking any action against illegally constructed plazas.

Meanwhile, the counsel for LDA informed the bench that at least 45 more plazas were being constructed in the city in violation of Supreme Court directions (issued in July 2007), and rules and regulations described by the Lahore Development Authority.

At this, the bench comprising Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Syed Sakhi Hussain Bukhari ordered that further construction of those plazas, which started after July 2007 be stopped while restrained the Lahore Development Authority from taking action against those, which were erected after the date.

In July 2007, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising now ‘deposed’ Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday and Justice Falak Sher hearing the same case had ordered demolition of various illegally constructed high-rise buildings in the city and also imposed fine on a number of plazas’ owners.

The bench had also constituted a committee comprising retired judges and senior lawyers for conducting surveys of all the commercial buildings in the province being constructed in violation of LDA’s rules.

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