LAHORE (TLTP): The Lahore High Court (LHC) Tuesday sought a report from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) about the actions taken against illegal housing societies in the city.
A bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan was hearing a petition against construction of housing schemes on green land areas and greenbelts.
A counsel of the LDA told the court that notices have been issued to the housing societies constructed on green land areas and the societies have been prevented from the power, water and gas connections as well as a ban has been imposed on the sale of land in these societies. He said at least 241 societies had been found involved in violation of greenbelts.
The chief justice said that housing societies could not be developed over the green land area but due to inefficiency of the LDA now millions of people live in these housing societies. He noted that the illegal societies had been allowed to continue their construction work despite the stay orders. “How could they continue work despite restraining orders against it,” the chief justice questioned. The chief justice LHC remarked that the budget of the LDA was in billions of rupees but its performance was zero.
The bench summoned the record of the housing societies having restraining orders from courts and the societies developed at green land areas in the city. The court also ordered the LDA to submit a report about its operation for vacating green land areas.
The bench adjourned further hearing of the case until January 28.
Meanwhile, the LHC on Tuesday overruled its registrar office’s objections to a writ petition seeking ban on a number of social media applications, including TikTok, Bigo Live and Likee. Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh of the LHC admitted the petition and ordered that the case be fixed before a bench for hearing.
Advocate Waqas Anwar Gujjar moved the petition, stating that the applications like TikTok, Bigo Live, Likee and others are becoming a source of waste of time for youngsters. Naming the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and others respondents in the case, he said that besides this, TikTok has claimed the lives of many youngsters who while trying to shoot short videos for the app had lost their lives.
The petitioner submitted that these social media applications have become a source of promoting vulgar content and no action had been taken despite bringing the matter to the notice of the authorities concerned including the PTA. He pleaded that the apps should immediately be banned and the authorities be directed to introduce laws for monitoring of such applications.
