SC rejects plea against IHC orders to seal Monal Restaurant

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Wednesday rejected a plea against the Islamabad High Court (IHC) orders to seal Monal Restaurant.

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Monal Restaurant had been built on the Margalla Hills National Park area, and last month, the IHC had ordered Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to seal it.

During the hearing today, the applicant lawyer argued that IHC did not record the evidence and ordered to seal the restaurant.

He told the SC that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the hotel administration were already fighting the case in a civil court.

The applicant lawyer claimed that the CDA sealed the premises without issuing a written order from the IHC and requested the top court to nullify IHC’s orders.

“We cannot overturn the verdict of the Islamabad High Court at present and served the notice to the federal government and respondents in the court,” Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked.

Later the apex court adjourned the case hearing till next week.

Earlier last month, Chief Justice IHC Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing a case of encroachment in Margalla Hills National Park land, had ordered to seal the Monal Restaurant.

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Justice Minallah had asked how the restaurant was built and said that it should not had been constructed on Margalla Hills National Park land.

The high court later had ordered the chief commissioner of Islamabad to seal the restaurant immediately.