A number of residents of Model Town Society in Lahore have been battling in the Lahore High Court for the past year over the ‘commercialization’ by Makro-Habib of 80 kanals (10 acres) of a garden plot in their society.

‘Quoted herewith is an excerpt from the Nov 11 2006 observations of the learned single judge, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, in the judgment handed down in the writ petition dealing with the issue: ‘Similarly it was also stressed very vehemently that the proposed project constitutes economic growth and will bring financial benefit to the country, city and the locality.

‘In this behalf, suffice it to say that no doubt foreign investment is to be encouraged but foreign investors are not above the law and must conform to laws of the land and must necessarily also exhibit sensitivity to the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the area.

‘The learned counsel for the petitioner has rightly drawn the distinction between growth and development. The two concepts are not synonymous and all growth must be measured against the collateral damage accrued thereby. Even otherwise, growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell’.’

NOW:

Karachi: disregard of all that is proper; Army Welfare Trust and Makro-Habib grabbed yet another garden plot !

A five-acre playing field in Tunisia Lines, used as a playground for the neighborhood has now been leased to the Army Welfare Trust and sub-leased to Makro-Habib which will build upon it a gigantic ‘Cash & Carry Store’. The local residents, whose children have been deprived of an open playground, plan to challenge this illicit conversion in court.

In August 2007 area resident Mehfooz-un-Nabi Khan filed his constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court, and at the first hearing Shehri was called in by the honourable judges, Sarmad Usmany and Ali Sain Dino Metlo, to assist the court and appear as a co-petitioner.

To silence the publicity, in July Makro-Habib and the Army Welfare Trust filed Suit No.926/2007 against Shehri, myself and others in the Sindh High Court pleading that all be restrained ‘from interfering with the use and enjoyment of the subject land by the plaintiffs for commercial purposes in any manner whatsoever’. Further, they asked for a permanent injunction restraining us from ‘continuing with the campaign of harassment and vilification through print or electronic media and in oral or written mode’ so that we may not cause loss or damage to the reputation of the plaintiffs. Justice prevailed. The court did not oblige.

After reading the artical in Daily DAWN

On June 29, the CJP was ‘pleased to pass the following order: Let the article published in daily Dawn dated 14-06-09 be treated as a petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. (This case will be heard in Islamabad this week.)

CLICK HERE to read full article   (Ardeshir Cowasjee at Daily DAWN)

Related posts:

1: “growth” is the ideology of a cancer cell.
2: Commercialisation worries Model Town residents
3: Lahore High Court issued a stay order against the deal between Model Town and Makro Cash and Carry Store.
4: A tale from Model Town (by: Abdul-Rahman Mustafa)
5: wo wada hi kiya jo wafa ho jaye