Construction of Ashiana Housing Scheme: Supreme Court cancels stay order

The Supreme Court Thursday cancelled stay order, relating to construction work of Ashiana Housing Scheme in the premises of Darbar Noor Shah with the directives to the Punjab government to resume the construction work on the land earmarked for shrine on its own responsibility.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the petition, filed by custodian of a shrine Noor Shah through which he pleaded that the government of Punjab had occupied the shrine land for Ashiana Housing Scheme. Advocate General Punjab, Khawaja Harris told the bench that the scheme was a project initiated by the Punjab government worth Rs 2 billion for low income people. The CJP said in his remarks that grabbing others land for the construction of good scheme was not correct legally and morally.
The petitioner contended that the provincial government had grabbed the shrine''s land for the project. However, the government allotted land 25 miles away from the shrine as compensation. The CJP observed that in accordance with Punjab Land Ordinance, substitute land could not be given against previously allocated land, adding that this scheme can be launched somewhere else.
The Chief Justice also inquired from Advocate General Punjab as to why the Punjab government has chosen this land for the project. Khawaja Harris submitted that 500 units had been constructed in low-income housing project whereas structure of 700 units had completed for further construction. He pleaded that the provincial government had acquired a total of 672 Kanals of Darbar Baba Noor Shah and as it had allotted 2835 Kanals as substitute for shrine.
He prayed the court to cancel the stay order. The court cancelled the stay order with a condition that the provincial government could continue construction work on its own responsibility and if the judgement would be deliver against it then provincial government would be bound to remove the construction on shrine place. The court adjourned the hearing for indefinite period.