ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday overruled an administrative objection to a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) raid on its central secretariat. Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz rejected the objection raised by the IHC registrar’s office, which argued that the petition lacked proper authorization. The plea, filed by PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub through Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, challenges the legality of the CDA’s actions.
The court had scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, but the session will be postponed due to a public holiday declared by the federal government to observe Youm-i-Takbeer, the anniversary of Pakistan becoming a nuclear power in 1998. The Cabinet Division issued a notification on Monday, stating that the Prime Minister has declared May 28 a public holiday nationwide. Following this, the Chief Justice of Pakistan also ordered that May 28 be observed as a court holiday. The IHC issued a notification stating that “the Hon’ble Chief Justice of this Court has been pleased to declare that the Islamabad High Court and Sessions Courts (East & West), Islamabad, shall observe public holiday on May 28, 2024.”
According to a court official, the hearing on the PTI petition will be rescheduled.
The CDA’s raid last week involved demolishing what it claimed were encroachments and sealing the PTI secretariat. PTI, in its petition, described the operation and sealing of its secretariat in Sector G-8/4, Islamabad, as “without lawful authority, mala fide, political victimization, without due process of law, and contrary to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.”
The petition detailed that Arshad Dad and Naseem ur Rehman, members of the PTI Central Finance Board, had purchased the commercial plot No.1-A, measuring 30X48, 160 square yards, at the Shopping Centre, Sector G-8/4-2, Islamabad, from Sartaj Ali on July 17, 2020. Sartaj Ali subsequently requested the CDA to transfer the plot allotment to PTI, which was approved on July 30, 2020.
On May 23, 2024, at approximately 11:15 pm, PTI learned through electronic media that the CDA, with the assistance of Islamabad police, was demolishing its head office located on the said plot. When PTI representatives asked the CDA and police officials to show any order or notice related to the encroachment, they were ignored, and the demolition continued.
The CDA and police officials later told the media that the plot belonged to Sartaj Ali, not PTI, and a notice was issued to him. This statement contradicts the CDA’s letter dated July 30, 2020, which confirmed the plot’s transfer to PTI.
PTI’s petition requests the court to declare the CDA’s actions illegal.