Court restrains CDA from altering D-12 graveyard

The Islamabad High Court has restrained the Capital Development Authority from taking any further action affecting an ancestral graveyard in Sector D-12 and has sought a written reply from the civic body to a petition challenging the proposed removal of graves.

Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the order in writing after hearing the petition filed by Waqar Ahmed, who has asked the court to protect the Elahi Mosque graveyard in Mauza Sari Saral, Sector D-12.

The petitioner stated that the graves of his ancestors and of other residents of the area lie at the site, and asked the court to stop the CDA from carrying out development work there, from constructing roads and from levelling the land.

In its interim order the court directed that the existing position of the graveyard be maintained and called for the authority's written response. ProPakistani reported the order, and The Express Tribune also carried it under the headline "CDA barred from altering graveyard". Neither report said when the matter would be heard next.

According to the petition, revenue records, survey reports and Google Maps imagery identify the site as a graveyard and funeral ground. The petitioner's counsel asked the court to order the installation of fencing and the demarcation of the burial ground to protect it from encroachment or removal, and to secure the site before any development work begins in the area.

The dispute turns on the status of the land: the petitioner argues it is a recognised graveyard and funeral ground, while the CDA's reply will set out the authority's own position on the site and on the development it has planned there.

The court has not decided the petition itself. Its order holds the position on the ground until the CDA files its response, and the case will proceed on the basis of that reply.

Sector D-12 is one of the capital's newer development sectors, and disputes over land use there have repeatedly come before the high court.