SC’s constitutional bench hears CDA’s slum clearance case

ISLAMABAD: The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court heard the slum clearance case of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) today.

The bench remarked that the authority to regulate informal housing settlements rest with the provinces and local governments. In line with that, Justice Jamal Mandokhail questioned “What legislation can the federal government enact on provincial authority?”

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Justice Mandokhail then questioned the CDA’s lawyer on what defines a slum. He said that if it just means an informal settlement or houses made of mud, then in Balochistan all housing settlements made of mud.

Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi responded to the question and said, “Encroaching groups build slum settlements on the banks of rivers. They build mud houses on [empty] plots.”

The bench then asked about the steps that the government has taken to prevent such encroachments. To this CDA’s counsel responded that the authority has notified 10 areas for clearance from such encroachments.

Justice Mandokhail said that if the matter is not of mud houses but of illegal occupation, then action should be taken for its clearance. “There are laws to evict illegal occupation,” he said.

The CDA lawyer responded that a stay order has been issued by a court against the eviction of illegal possession. To this Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said, “If there is a stay order, then get it lifted from the respective court.”

Justice Mazhar also asked the CDA’s lawyer about how these encroachments come into existence. He added that it begins from the establishment of a kiosk and then a settlement around it gradually develops.

SLUMS – A LONG-STANDING ISSUE IN THE CAPITAL

Neither the issue of slums in the capital city nor the controversies surrounding it are new. In August 2021, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had first barred CDA from demolishing slums in Islamabad. Back then the issue was regarding encroachments on Marghalla Hills. However, the slums have continued to expand to other areas of the city. While some see the issue as a humanitarian crisis, the authorities look at these slums as illegal encroachments.

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Previously, the IHC had brought in the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) in the case. Now the constitutional bench has also ordered the federal government to submit policy report on slum clearance in two weeks.