Justice Ayesha A Malik of the Lahore High Court on Friday directed counsel for the Fortress Stadium Management to assist the court on his stance that high courts did not have the authority to take up cases of public interest.
The judge issued the order while hearing a petition challenging the construction of Fortress Square Plaza at the Fortress Stadium.
Counsel for the Fortress Stadium Management told the court that the case did not fall within the domain of public interest “but even if it does, high courts have no authority to take it up”.
The judge asked counsels for the petitioner and respondents for a checklist of cases relating to public interest under Article 199 that high courts could entertain, compared to the Supreme Court’s unfettered right to do the same under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
The counsels sought time from the court in this regard. The judge adjourned proceedings for three days.
Petitioner Nayyer Khan had said that the shopping complex built on 60,942 square feet had been constructed in violation of law. He said that the land belonged to the federal government but the Fortress Stadium Management had leased it out to DUPAK Developers Pakistan on October 27, 2007, for 33 years to construct Fortress Square Plaza.
He said that the construction was complete and the management was now handing over possession of shops.
“The agreement with DUPAK Developers states that the Pakistan Army is the sole owner of the land but in fact the land belongs to the federal government,” he said.
He said that according to a letter of the Military Estate Officer, the land was specified as Class-AI and was reserved for military purposes.
He said that the updated version of the Fortress Stadium Policy on the land stated that “this particular piece of land can only be utilised by the army for defence and for non-commercial purposes”.
He said that the Fortress Stadium Management, an unregistered private entity, with no legal standing or part in the government did not have the authority to lease out the land.
“No approval from the Environment Protection Agency was obtained to construct the plaza either.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2014.