Pak SC overrules LHC's verdict on Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project
Feb 01, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 1 : The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday nullified the verdict announced by the Lahore High Court (LHC) declaring Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project (RRUDP) illegal and, instead, ordered the Punjab government to resume work on the project.
The LHC had declared the RRUDP illegal while announcing the verdict on pleas challenging the project last week. After this, the provincial government reached out to the apex court seeking nullification of LHC's verdict, reported Geo News.
The Supreme Court directed the Punjab government to resume work on RRUDP and made clear that work can be resumed only on lands that have been paid for.
Further, the ruling also stated that the case will be forwarded to LHC if inter-court appeals are maintainable, reported Geo News.
Last Tuesday, the LHC had declared the RRUDP illegal while announcing a verdict on the petitions challenging the mode and manner of the land acquisition proceedings undertaken by the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA).
The court directed the Authority to return the money it had acquired from the government within two months.
The petitioners had questioned the legality of forceful acquisitions of land for commercial purposes under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, while some of them questioned the legality of the Environment Impact Assessment of the project prepared by an unregistered consultant, reported Geo News.
The petitioners' counsels objected that if the project was bereft of environmental impact assessment, how could it be presumed of public purpose.
They argued that the project would deprive the farmers of their precious land and such deprivation was an infringement of fundamental rights, reported Geo News.
On this, the LHC had stayed the process of land acquisition for the project for not meeting the legal requirements and environmental laws over the petitions.
However, the government of Punjab was of the view that since Ravi Urban Authority (amendment) Ordinance 2021 was passed to cover legal infirmities, the stay orders granted by the court and the petitions against the project stood infructuous, reported Geo News.
