Friday, May 16, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429    

IHC stays land transaction of housing scheme

Islamabad—The Islamabad High Court has stayed all kinds of land transaction by the owners of Al Haram City.
IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam heard a writ petition and adjourned hearing of the case till May 27. Senior lawyer Raja Mohammad Akram, counsel for Allied Bank Ltd, prayed to the court to appoint a receiver and stay all land transactions by Sheikh Iftikhar Adil, owner of Al Haram City.
He said that their 1,385 kanals of land in Al Haram City was an attached property and being a mortgaged entity it could neither be sold nor transferred under the banking law.
He pleaded that its transaction and sale should be declared null and void. After hearing his arguments, the IHC Chief Justice granted stay and adjourned the hearing The same single-judge bench also reserved a judgement over a writ petition of Sheikh Iftikhar Adil about placing his name on the Exit Control List.
He pleaded that the Interior Ministry had placed his name on ECL and was not issuing his passport. The counsel for the ministry contended that he was not issued passport for certain reasons.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court here Thursday adjourned hearing of a case related to termination of the services of contract employees of the Ministry of Population Welfare till May 22. Justice Dr Sajid Qureshi heard eight identical writ petitions submitted by laid off contract employees of the project.
Shoaib Shaheen, counsel for the petitioners, apprised the court that the services of these contract employees were terminated by the Ministry in 2006 despite the fact that the Population Census Project continued.
He said they had been performing their duties for the last eight years with all their capabilities and their performance was also appreciated by the concerned authorities.
The counsel contended that they deserved to be regularized on the basis of their services and satisfactory performance but they were dismissed from their services. Deputy Attorney General Khalid Abbas presented the ministry’s point of view.
IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam recently issued a direction to the Ministry of Education to regularize the service of contract female teacher Farzana Yasmin after hearing her writ petition.
Meanwhile, a Division Bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam and Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan adjourned the hearing of the bail application of Qasim Mushtaq alias Rashid on the request of the counsel for the federation.
The accused was arrested for his alleged involvement in a bomb blast case in which 13 people were killed and many others injured on July 17, 2007.—APP