The Lahore High Court on Friday disposed of four identical petitions against a city district government notification that had banned construction in the area surrounding Jati Umra, where Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif reside, and ordered the Lahore Development Authority director general to decide the matter within a month.
Advocate Noshab A Khan and others had alleged that the ban was being used to favour the PML-N leaders who lived in Jati Umra.
The petitioners stated that the city district government had issued a notification on March 1, 2013, freezing housing development on 2,000 acres around Jati Umra. The petitioners said the notification was a violation of fundamental rights of people living in the area.
On Friday, District Coordination Officer Javed Ahmad Qazi told the court that the LDA director general had been empowered to issue such notifications following an amendment in the Local Government Ordinance. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah disposed of the petitions and directed the LDA director general to settle the dispute in a month.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2014.