ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will Monday (today) resume hearing in the matter related to the allotments made in favour of judicial officers, who are serving or have served in this court and the Islamabad District Courts.
A division bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will conduct hearing of 14 identical petitions and appeals against allotment of plots in F-14 and F-15 sectors. Besides, the owners of land in village Thalla Syedan, Jhangi Syedan of the capital, the other petitioners in this matter included district and sessions judges of the Islamabad’s judiciary including former judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi and district and sessions judge Wajid Ali. IHC’s former and incumbent officers Umer Daraz Shakir, Sarfraz Ayub Khan, Nazir Ahmed Bajwa are also among the petitioners.
The bench has also fixed for hearing an intra-court appeal against the decision of single member bench in which it directed the FGEHA to make allotments of plots to those who had been left over in the balloting of sector G-13 and G-14. The bench will take up the case related to the allotment of plots to about 50 judges of the Islamabad’s subordinate judiciary as well. The land owners asserted in their petition that they are property owners of the village Thalla Syedan and that they are allegedly affected on account of the abuse of power of eminent domain by the respondents including Land Acquisition Collector ICT.
In this regard, the IHC Chief Justice had observed in previous order that the land owners of the Islamabad Capital Territory have been victims of grave injustices and violation of their fundamental rights since decades. The admitted abuse of power of eminent domain in the capital has led to travesty of justice. He added that which forum or court will adjudicate upon the rights of the aggrieved land owners without the perception of bias when every judicial officer of the District Court becomes a beneficiary?
“This prima facie, raises the question of conflict of interest. The constitutional jurisdiction of a High Court is not an efficacious remedy while the judicial officers of the District Courts by creating their financial interest by applying for and accepting an extra ordinary benefit from the Authority are likely to be perceived as having a bias and thus the confidence of the litigants in fairness of the judicial system is likely to be eroded,” maintained Justice Athar.
He continued that in such circumstance, there is likely denial of the litigant’s right of access to justice and fair trial. The IHC bench held that the respondents are expected to satisfy this Court whether an adequate and efficacious remedy in accordance with the principles of fair trial guaranteed under Article 10-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 is available to the petitioners and other land owners against the abuse of the power of eminent domain in the circumstances highlighted above.
It noted that the Authority has been established under the Act of 2020. Section 20 ibid explicitly empowers the Authority to acquire land or any interest in land for its purposes and that it shall be deemed to be an acquisition for the public purposes within the meaning of the applicable Land Acquisition Act or any other prevailing law for the said purpose as per policy of the federal government.
It further said, “The land can thus only be acquired and further disposed of as per policy of the Federal Government i.e. the worthy Prime Minister and members of the Federal Cabinet. This Court cannot fathom that the Federal Government has a policy that would affect the fundamental rights of the litigants and the public at large by creating conflict of interest.”
The bench further said that it can also not be imagined that pursuant to the policy of the Federal Government, judicial officers who have been convicted or dismissed on charges of corruption and misconduct have been rewarded.