A petitioner on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to order the concerned authorities to halt construction of a huge building and secret bunkers in the premises of the US Embassy in Islamabad.
Tariq Asad filed the petition on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Inam-ul-Rehim (Retd) under Article 184(3) of the Constitution and made Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA), federal secretaries of Interior Ministry, Foreign Affairs, and Defence and the US Embassy Management through Ministry of Foreign Affairs respondents. The petitioner urged the court to direct the concerned authorities to withdraw extra land that had been provided to the US Embassy beyond its needs.
He also urged the court to constitute a high-level commission comprising high reputed retired judges of Supreme Court or High Courts, lawyers and civil engineers to visit the site of the US Embassy building and submit a detailed report to the apex court. The petitioner contended that the authorities should reconsider plans and designs of the buildings to be constructed in the US embassy through a panel of engineers.
He claimed that the US is expanding its mission in Islamabad and fortified embassy compound by spending over $1 billion on its construction. While giving the details of the approved plan pertaining to construction in the US embassy, the petitioner said that all the buildings would include a seven-storey new office building measuring 331,424sq ft, a seven-storey new office annex measuring 148,432.30 sq ft, a single-storey guard house measuring 4,337.85 sq ft, three-storey support annex office measuring 79,252.20 sq ft, a basement plus two-storey residence building measuring 30,747,33 sq-ft, and two basement plus four-storey consular annex building measuring 127,062 sq-ft.
The petitioner alleged the Americans wanted to build a seven-floor building, which could house 7,000 personnel. He claimed that the CDA conveyed on January 10, 2012 its approval to the US embassy for the construction of 16 new buildings with a covered area of 1,734,212.23 sq ft. According to him, after the allotment of additional land to the US Embassy, its total area will increase to 56 acres, which will more than the White House's, which is on 51 acres of land.