LAHORE: LDA’s counsel sought in LHC judges’ plot allotment case

A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC), on Monday, directed the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general to submit a representation till January 2 about allotments of plots to LHC judges in 1993, when Nawaz Sharif was the country’s prime minister. The bench issued the direction during hearing of a 17-year-old case seeking cancellation of residential plots allotted to 28 LHC judges during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure. The bench was hearing an intra-court appeal filed by Advocate Saif-ul-Haq Ziayee against decision given by a single bench that had dismissed the constitutional petition. The petitioner had filed the petition in 1993 and the single bench had dismissed it in 1994, after which Ziayee challenged the single bench’s order through an intra-court appeal that was never heard after the year 2002. He alleged that the plots were allotted in Johar Town and Garden Town in violation with the LDA’s laws. He alleged that plots were allotted to high court judges when a case for reopening of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s reference was pending before a division bench comprising Justice (r) Rashid Aziz Khan and Justice (r) Muhammad Amir Malik. He said the allotment of plots to sitting judges amounted to giving bribe. He submitted that as per the rules, plots could only be allotted to judges who did not have any plot for residential purposes, however, the principle was not observed in this case. He requested to set aside the order of single bench and cancel the plots allotted to the judges.