PM Khan’s pet project River Ravi declared illegal by LHC

The River Ravi Urban Development Project, which is considered a pet project of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been declared illegal by the Lahore High Court (LHC). The court ordered its construction to be halted immediately.

The verdict was announced by Justice Shahid Karim. “The Section 4 of the Ravi Urban Development Authority Act, 2020, is against the Constitution,” said the court and added that the land was not acquired legally.

Section 4 of the Ravi Urban Development Authority Act, 2020:

“The government shall, by notification in the official Gazette, establish an Authority to be known as the Ravi Urban Development Authority for carrying out the purposes of this Act.”

“The authority shall be a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal, with powers, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and may by the said name, sue and be sued. The Government shall review the performance of the Authority and may, from time to time, give general policy directions to implement such directions.”

“The loans for the project have been borrowed illegally,” the bench said. Justice Shahid Karim added that the Ravi authority immediately repay the loan of Rs5 billion it took from the Punjab government for the project. The court also observed that environmental laws have been ignored in the Ravi River Urban Project,

The Ravi UrbanDevelopment Authority was inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan in August 2020.