ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday set aside the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the demolition of the Monal restaurant, which was located within the Margalla Hills National Park in Islamabad.
The court dismissed the Supreme Court’s decision and also lifted the stay order in the case.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Arshad Hussain, accepted the appeals filed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI).
In a short order, the court directed that questions relating to the ownership of the property be decided independently by the relevant trial courts, without being influenced by observations made in the SC’s judgment.
The court further said that the trial courts should decide the cases related to land ownership as soon as possible without being influenced by any judicial observation.
During the hearing of the review petition filed against the Supreme Court’s decision, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi remarked that many points were not taken into account in the Supreme Court’s decision
It may be recalled that in June 2024, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Qazi Faez Isa, while rejecting the appeals filed against the Islamabad High Court’s decision, had ordered the closure and relocation of all restaurants, including Monal, located in the Margalla Hills National Park within three months (90 days).
The court said that the land of the National Park cannot be used for commercial purposes.
