ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court Tuesday sought report from Board of Revenue in a case regarding delimitation of Bani Gala Botanical Garden and adjourned hearing till second week of December.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Alam Khan Miankhel heard the case regarding illegal constructions in Bani Gala and boundaries of Botanical Garden.
During the course of proceedings, Justice Bandial said that the court, on previous hearing, had asked the Survey of Pakistan to determine the boundaries of the Botanical Garden.
The Additional Attorney General said that the Survey of Pakistan could not find all the records related to the Botanical Garden.
The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) had provided some records to the Survey of Pakistan but the Punjab government did not provide the record, he added.
He said that the court should form a high-level committee so that all the officials could sit at one place and settle matters.
Upon this Justice Bandial responded that the court had ordered the Ministry of Environment in this regard at the last hearing. The whole area of the Botanical Garden was not controversial, he added.
He said it was easy to determine the disputed area.
The Advocate General said that the Survey of Pakistan had submitted two maps of the area in the past. According to the 2004 map, the Botanical Garden consisted of 725 acres, he added.
He said that the real issue was forest land as the forest land was owned by the Punjab government and it had the record. The ICT was formed in 1981, he added.
A representative of forest department Punjab said that the the department had leased 721 acres of land to the Capital Development Authority (CDA). Justice Bandial said that this land was valuable government land and its boundaries should be determined.
The court sought a report from a senior member of the Board of Revenue (BoR) and Secretary Board of Revenue and adjourned hearing till second week of December.