According to news, Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday has issued orders to shut the doors of the CDA on its suspected virtual head, Faisal Sakhi Butt. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui has passed this order and has also directed to shut the doors of Faisal Sakhi Butt’s House for other CDA officials only in their official capacity.
These interim orders were passed in response to the petition from a Kashmiri migrant who openly challenged Mr Butt’s status as the virtual head of the Prime Minister Task Force for Islamabad.
Justice Siddiqui gave Mr. Butt’s counsel one week to answer and the charge. Justice Siddiqui has adjourned the case hearing to 21st May. Farkhand Iqbal, the chairman of the CDA, has said that the order of the court would be circulated to the concerned parties as soon as it is received.
In the court proceedings on Monday, Justice Siddiqui heard Fazal Hussain’s petition that under rehabilitation policy, CDA is blocking his 39 kanals of land. The court raised the question about the stature under which the chairman of the task force was appointed and allowed to interfere in the CDA matters. The counsel of Fazal Hussain, also told the court that Mr Butt is interfering in the CDA matters on account of the notification which was issued by the Prime Minister.
Hussain’s counsel also told the court that the PM constituted a three member committee headed by Mr Butt to oversee the CDA affairs. On the other hand, the lawyer says that under the CDA Ordinance 1960, it’s only the duty of the chairman and the members of the board to monitor CDA affairs, not that of the virtual head of any task force.
On the other hand, Farkhand Iqbal, the CDA Chairman, said that Mr Butt never exercised his powers and his last visit to the CDA took place just to oversee the rescue work of the CDA in Bhoja Air crash.
He also said that though Mr Butt attended meetings regarding development work in the city yet he neither interfered in the CDA matters nor the CDA officials went to his residence in their official capacity. Moreover, the CDA cannot stop anyone to meet Mr Butt in their personal capacity.
IHC on the petition of the owner of the SMG Petroleum has directed CDA to issue him an NOC by Tuesday otherwise they will have to face consequences. This order was given because Chairman Farkhand Iqbal did not appear before the court. The court has issued arrest warrants against the Chairman, Deputy Director Arshad Chohan and Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu.
Chaudhry Haseeb, the CDA counsel, has requested the court to delay the matter, since an NOC requires time but the court has not accepted the request and has adjourned the proceeding till Wednesday. The CDA is required to present the NOC in the court but sources say that despite court order CDA has clearly refused to issue NOC.
