The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has constituted a high-level committee to identify officers who approved the lease of the Monal Restaurant and other buildings in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).
Deputy Director-General Land and Estate, Afnan Alam, will head the committee. Deputy Financial Advisor, Khawaja Aizad Hussain, Director Laboratory, Khalid Nawaz, and Director Regional Planning, Faraz Malik, make up the four-member committee.
The committee will submit the investigation report within 15 days after which disciplinary proceedings will be started against the officers involved in leasing buildings in the protected national forest.
The formation of the committee is in line with the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order from 12 January this year which directed the municipal authority to take action against the officers who leased out buildings in the MHNP in violation of rules and regulations.
It must be recalled here that in January this year, Chief Justice (CJ) IHC, Justice Athar Minallah, had ordered Islamabad’s administration to seal the Monal Restaurant and hand it to the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB).
However, earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) overturned the IHC’s order from January and allowed the Monal Restaurant to become functional once again.
