Writ petition against Safma adjourned
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court adjourned till second week of July the hearing of a writ petition challenging the construction of commercial plaza by South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) in residential area and its irritating activities for inhabitants, after local commission submitted his report.
The report said the centre is being used for training journalists in various disciplines of print and electronic media. For this purpose, lectures are delivered to the students in classrooms. The local commission said he also met senior journalists there, who are associated with Safma. They approved the activities at the centre. Two neighbours, Ali Ahmed Dehloon and Asim Iqbal also had no objection to centre’s activities.
‘Therefore, I am of the opinion that premises are being used for purpose of media training, as a hub of Safma’s activities and for no other purpose,’ the commission said. He further reported that petitioners’ side did not turn up till Asr prayers on June 08. After the prayers, some of the petitioners and Imam of the mosque located in front of premises across the road, gathered there, but they refused to visit the premises.
They only complained about parking of cars in front of the mosque. Former Federal Finance Secretary, Mukhtar Masood and 49 other residents of the area through their counsel, M Maqbul Sadiq had filed a writ petition against the LDA and Imitiaz Alam, the Secretary General of Safma.
The petition stated, ‘Raising the huge unauthorised structure in form of complex without a sanctioned plan and its use for entirely commercial purpose, as indicated in Safma’s pamphlets is in violation of the specific purpose, for which the plot was meant, being located in the residential area of the scheme.’
Further, this is a violation of Section 40, the Lahore Development Act 1995 and cites security risks to residents from the movement of VIPs in the area, it added. The violation of the petitioners’ vested right to the enjoyment of their residential neighbourhood provides authority for removal, demolition, and alteration of the structure by the LDA, states the petition.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:6/17/2009
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