LHC scraps celebrated Ravi riverfront project

[Falconless]

Government should make new city in This area

Nobody would move and live there, urban centres need to be close to economic or political centres

 

[Maula Jatt]

Government should make new city in This area

Why?

 

[Maula Jatt]

Kuch PDF members kehtay hain Balochistan main new cities banani chahiyeen Balochistan main water nhi ha yahan ha

But what value does this region bring to the table
You can't just built city for the sake of it

You can build SEZ, STZ and if it grows build a city around or near it

But you can't build a random city as it won't be sustainable

 

[Pak Nationalist]

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday scrapped the much-celebrated Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project of the government by declaring several provisions of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) Act 2020 unconstitutional.


Announcing a reserved judgement on multiple petitions, Justice Shahid Karim also declared the acquisition of agricultural land for the project unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.


The judge read the operative part of the judgement, which is yet to be released, and ruled that Section 4 of the Ruda Act 2020 was in violation of Article 140-A of the Constitution, which deals with the formation of local governments.


He also directed the Ravi Urban Development Authority to return a loan of Rs5 billion to the Punjab government within two months and ruled that the authority had failed to comply with the laws and initiated the project without a master plan.




Justice Karim said the Ruda (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 also failed to cover legal infirmities in the law. The judge ruled that the notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 had not been released in accordance with the law. The land collectors failed to legally acquire the land for the project, the judge added.


The judgement had been reserved on Dec 21, 2021.


Farmers, land owners and developers had filed petitions through lawyers Sheraz Zaka, Ahmad Rafay Alam, Azhar Siddique, Waqar A. Sheikh and others.


The petitioners had challenged the mode and manner of land acquisition proceedings undertaken for the project by Ravi Urban Development Authority. They said the land acquisition collector, despite a protest by the landowners, passed 18 awards on a single day amounting to billions of rupees.


They also challenged the legality of forceful acquisition of land for commercial purposes under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. Some of the petitioners questioned the legality of the Environment Impact Assessment of the project prepared by a non-registered consultant.


The Punjab advocate general had opposed the petitions, saying the project was of public importance and the court lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the policy affairs of the government.


Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel for the Ravi Urban Development Authority, had argued that the project was environment-friendly and would ensure conservation, clean air for Lahore and include within it a massive forest.


Advocate Amina Qadir, who was appointed as amicus curiae, told the court that the project was not for public welfare. She said the government had been unable to justify the scheme keeping in view the public trust doctrine as Punjab would be bereft of its fertile plains.

LHC scraps celebrated Ravi riverfront project

Declares acquisition of agricultural land for the scheme unconstitutional, violation of citizens’ fundamental rights.

www.dawn.com

Don't blame the courts when the government holds great contempt for the constitution and undertakes actions that are in violation of constitutional protections. Courts only interpret what is in there in the constitution. The onus lies on the executive branch of the state to tailor development projects that buttress constitutionally guaranteed rights, not infringe upon these. I know that there would be scores of reactionary comments under this thread from PTI partisans abusing courts for stalling the progress of the country, but it is more nuanced than that.

 

[Maula Jatt]

Don't blame the courts when the government holds great contempt for the constitution and undertakes actions that are in violation of constitutional protections. Courts only interpret what is in there in the constitution. The onus lies on the executive branch of the state to tailor development projects that buttress constitutionally guaranteed rights, not infringe upon these. I know that there would be scores of reactionary comments under this thread from PTI partisans abusing courts for stalling the progress of the country, but it is more nuanced than that.

LHC is pretty much a joke of a Court
Look through Thier history

 

[Falconless]

Trolling isn't allowed on platform or I'll dumb it down more.

Pakistan is a poor country, where slums exist and it's up to us to invest in education and social development. If that's not acceptable to elite you better move to wapda town, dha etc. rather than using public money to build a gated city.

Building 2 Islamabad in each province isn't gonna solve shit.

Ravi City Project attracts over $8bn foreign investment

LAHORE: An ambitious Ravi Riverfront Urban Development project in a short span of time attracted over $8 billion...

www.brecorder.com

 

[Pak Nationalist]

LHC is pretty much a joke of a Court
Look through Thier history

Not in this case. Read RUDA's charter, it did infringe upon the fundamental rights of citizens (those living in the area that was to become part of the development project)as guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan. Is LHC to be blamed for the PTI government's lack of due diligence? What is that guy Frog Naseem's ministry doing?

 

[ziaulislam]

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday scrapped the much-celebrated Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project of the government by declaring several provisions of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) Act 2020 unconstitutional.


Announcing a reserved judgement on multiple petitions, Justice Shahid Karim also declared the acquisition of agricultural land for the project unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.


The judge read the operative part of the judgement, which is yet to be released, and ruled that Section 4 of the Ruda Act 2020 was in violation of Article 140-A of the Constitution, which deals with the formation of local governments.


He also directed the Ravi Urban Development Authority to return a loan of Rs5 billion to the Punjab government within two months and ruled that the authority had failed to comply with the laws and initiated the project without a master plan.




Justice Karim said the Ruda (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 also failed to cover legal infirmities in the law. The judge ruled that the notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 had not been released in accordance with the law. The land collectors failed to legally acquire the land for the project, the judge added.


The judgement had been reserved on Dec 21, 2021.


Farmers, land owners and developers had filed petitions through lawyers Sheraz Zaka, Ahmad Rafay Alam, Azhar Siddique, Waqar A. Sheikh and others.


The petitioners had challenged the mode and manner of land acquisition proceedings undertaken for the project by Ravi Urban Development Authority. They said the land acquisition collector, despite a protest by the landowners, passed 18 awards on a single day amounting to billions of rupees.


They also challenged the legality of forceful acquisition of land for commercial purposes under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. Some of the petitioners questioned the legality of the Environment Impact Assessment of the project prepared by a non-registered consultant.


The Punjab advocate general had opposed the petitions, saying the project was of public importance and the court lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the policy affairs of the government.


Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel for the Ravi Urban Development Authority, had argued that the project was environment-friendly and would ensure conservation, clean air for Lahore and include within it a massive forest.


Advocate Amina Qadir, who was appointed as amicus curiae, told the court that the project was not for public welfare. She said the government had been unable to justify the scheme keeping in view the public trust doctrine as Punjab would be bereft of its fertile plains.

LHC scraps celebrated Ravi riverfront project

Declares acquisition of agricultural land for the scheme unconstitutional, violation of citizens’ fundamental rights.

www.dawn.com

Banana republic of pakistan

 

[Kompromat]

Sure thing. Tell that to the Agri landholders whose lands are being acquired forcibly.

This is another DHA + Saudi Neom city in making. So no it's no sabotage. It's riding rough shod using eminent domain to acquire land. Only ME princes dream this up.


HK has a housing problem worse than many cities. It's apartments are glorified slums for which you'll find more such gens that I've quoted.

Tiny Apartments and Punishing Work Hours: The Economic Roots of Hong Kong’s Protests (Published 2019)

The widening wealth gap is being felt in the most fundamental way: where people live. The apartments in which many residents now live are so small they are called cages and coffins.

www.nytimes.com

State has the right to acquire land wherever it wants at a fair price.

 

[Falconless]

THE LAND ACQUISITION, ACT, 1894

 

[Yeti786]

State has the right to acquire land wherever it wants at a fair price.

And the same laws give people the right to challenge it in court to avoid abuse of eminent domain. So no, it's not sabotage.

Plus US SC defined fair price as the best use case of land to penalize govt and prevent it's overreach. Hence for instance govt is forced to pay prices above market value by assuming that agri land i.e. fallow would be priced as if it provides bumper crop yield. The price offered by Rev. commissioner is peanuts.

 

[Menace2Society]

Trolling isn't allowed on platform or I'll dumb it down more.

Pakistan is a poor country, where slums exist and it's up to us to invest in education and social development. If that's not acceptable to elite you better move to wapda town, dha etc. rather than using public money to build a gated city.

Building 2 Islamabad in each province isn't gonna solve shit.

Pakistan is not a poor country, it's just badly managed and your bucket has holes, massively corrupt.

Allocate funds for new cities and take a loan for it, this will pay off 100x in the long term. Every country has debt, it's how you spend the money that matters.

Look, this is Kuala Lumpur, something like this. I just don't understand how we don't have just one city like this.

 

[peagle]

The LHC didn't take a suo moto or exercised it's jurisdiction. The writ petition was moved by farmers whose Agri land was being forcibly acquired through eminent domain at low rates.

This wasn't industries, it's land grab to build another glorified Islamabad on a nullah.


If only things were so simple. DHA esque housing estate are not the answer. I wish ..

Understood, but rather then cancel, the court can force the relevant authorities to pay the appropriate rates. Or, appoint a committee to resolve the matter, there are many options before full cancelation.

Those options clearly were not taken, how are we going to develop if every major initiative by governments are hemmed in by the courts.
In rest of the world you rarely hear about such interference by courts in the powers of the executive, Pakistani judiciary needs to relax, and allow the governments to govern.

 

[Yeti786]

Ravi City Project attracts over $8bn foreign investment

LAHORE: An ambitious Ravi Riverfront Urban Development project in a short span of time attracted over $8 billion...

www.brecorder.com

They made same claims about Gwader even grander.

The man is quoting interest expressed by Chinese investors as if it means anything. So no we're better off without another Islamabad.

 

[Pak Nationalist]

Sure thing. Tell that to the Agri landholders whose lands are being acquired forcibly.

This is another DHA + Saudi Neom city in making. So no it's no sabotage. It's riding rough shod using eminent domain to acquire land. Only ME princes dream this up.


HK has a housing problem worse than many cities. It's apartments are glorified slums for which you'll find more such gens that I've quoted.

Tiny Apartments and Punishing Work Hours: The Economic Roots of Hong Kong’s Protests (Published 2019)

The widening wealth gap is being felt in the most fundamental way: where people live. The apartments in which many residents now live are so small they are called cages and coffins.

www.nytimes.com

Precisely, these nuances would be lost on PTI partisans here who think everyone is out to mow down their party's policies aimed at propelling Pakistan into prosperity. Developmental projects cannot be drawn up to conflict with the law of the land. Any government that does that is either incompetent, has no regard for the law of the land, or has a cavalier attitude towards executing its own signature projects.