CJ IHC Athar Minallah says state has failed in giving rights to its citizens

ISLAMABAD, Sep 02 (SABAH): Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah said on Friday that the state has failed in giving rights to its citizens.

The IHC CJ’s observation came while hearing the case of non-payment of compensation to victims of different villages in the federal capital.

CJ IHC Athar Minallah remarked during the hearing that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had failed to satisfy the court, adding that the non-payment of recognized compensation to the victims was a violation of constitutional rights.

The court maintained that CDA Chairman Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman Younis should explain why the victims had not been compensated yet.

During the hearing, the victims complained that even their children had grown up now, and have nowhere to go without the compensation.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the issue was quite serious, but is being treated like a normal case. He further expressed his dismay over the fact that the lands were taken 40 years ago by the CDA, which has since allotted 22,000 plots to its chairman and its members but has failed to compensate the victims, going against court orders.

“Those who lost their lands have been given nothing in return. Do you want us to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the CDA chairman?” the chief justice asked. He further said that it appeared that the authority was busy serving someone else.

The court summoned CDA Chief Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman Younis and the next hearing and adjourned it till September 16.