ISLAMABAD, AUGUST 20: The ruling by IHC Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan invalidated the regulations that permitted the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to turn greenbelts into residential plots. The ruling followed appeals from Sector G-11 residents who contested the CDA’s actions in establishing new plots on greenbelts next to their neighborhood. The petitioners, through their attorney Barrister Umar Gillani, contended that the CDA’s actions went against the established layout plan of their area, which was finalized in the 1990s.
Judge Khan ordered the destruction of all homes constructed on such plots beginning in 2021 and ruled that the CDA’s policies were unlawful. The court stressed that the development of these plots destroyed the area’s beauty and calm and denied its citizens—especially the kids—access to open places for leisure.
Barrister Gillani argued that the CDA was engaging in “china-cutting,” which is the phrase for the illicit carving away of urban parcels. He cited a tragic incident in 2021 in Sector E-11 where flooding resulted in the death of a mother and her kid to support his claim that these developments constituted a risk to human life by increasing the likelihood of flooding.
In order to contest the CDA’s actions, the petitioners cited Article 9 of the Constitution, which protects the right to life. They claimed that by jeopardizing the community’s safety and standard of living, the new plots infringed upon this right.
The “Regulation of Amendment in Layout Plan 2019,” which allegedly gave it extensive authority to alter sector layout plans, was cited by the CDA as support for its position. According to the CDA, these rules were followed in the creation of the new plots.
But Justice Khan took issue with the CDA’s changing the finished layout plans after they were approved. He pointed out that when property owners invest in their homes, they depend on stability and certainty, which were threatened by such acts.
The CDA chose to utilize tiny spaces in existing developed districts rather than developing new sectors on available land, as the court’s ruling made clear. The court stated that this strategy changed the “character of the residence” for current homeowners, which was not permitted following the approval of a layout plan.
