The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday suspended the ruling of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in the Ravi Urban Development Plan case and allowed the Punjab government to continue work on the project, reports The Express Tribune.
The bench was hearing appeals against the annulment of the project, earlier declared “unconstitutional” by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on January 25 as the project lacked a master plan.
The court allowed the provincial government to continue construction activity on plots of land for which dues have been cleared. However, the apex court restricted the Punjab government from continuing construction activity on plots for which dues are still pending.
During today’s hearing, notices were also issued to the respondents in the case and stated that a review will be done to determine if it constitutes an intra-court appeal. If it is an intra-court appeal, the case will be referred back to the LHC, added to the bench.
Earlier in the hearing, the apex court reprimanded the legal team of the Punjab government for appearing before the bench in the case unprepared.
“You do not know what the case is?” asked Justice Ijazul Ahsan when AGP Owais was unable to answer the question. “It seems that you have not prepared.”
The Punjab AGP replied that the provincial government was not a party to the case in the high court’s verdict. “Not being party to one of 18 petitions does not matter,” Justice Ahsan remarked, adding that the Punjab government had presented its position in the high court.
The petitions were against the public hearing of the environment agency, AGP Punjab stated further.
The justice replied that according to the records, acquisition of lands for the project was also challenged and added that the provincial government’s legal team should not misrepresent in court.
Last week, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said that the government would move to the Supreme Court after LHC nullified the Ravi Urban Development Project.
The prime minister during his visit to Rakh Jhok forest said that the case would be presented in a better manner to appraise the court about the significance of the project in view of urban development and civic facilities, further saying that the case was not presented correctly in LHC.
