Islamabad: In response to a petition filed by Advocate Abid Hassan Minto and his son Bilal Minto, the Supreme Court (SC) directed Parliament to adopt a unanimous bill on low-cost housing projects for homeless people.
According to a news source, a two-judge bench comprising Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa, acknowledged that there was no law regarding the provision of low-cost housing to poor people and directed a commission consisting of experts to work on devising a policy within the next two months and to submit a report. The report will assist in devising an appropriate law. If the commission fails to submit the report, strict action will be taken against those responsible, the bench stated.
Reportedly, the petition also highlighted the policy employed by the CDA to evict residents of Sector I-11 slum on July 30, 2015.
The housing ministry, the CDA and private sector stakeholders assured the court that no eviction drive will be undertaken until slum dwellers have been relocated and strict control would be implemented to discourage such settlements in urban areas, reported the news source.
