Court Sentences Housing Society Owner to 1-Month Jail Over Fiber Broadband Dispute

A Civil Court of Islamabad has issued orders of one month’s arrest of the owner of a housing society, River Gardens, on contempt of court proceedings on persistent refusal to grant the right of way (ROW) to a fiber broadband company, Nayatel.

In an order issued on 14 October 2023, the Learned Civil judge Atif Jameel, while taking cognizance of the disobedience and contempt of court on the part of the River Gardens’ management, has directed to initiate the process of arrest of the Managing Director, Renaissance Developers (Pvt) Ltd/River Gardens and subsequently commit him to the civil prison for a period of one month.

Nayatel applied for a grant of ROW to River Gardens in 2022 for the installation of fiber broadband but the permission was not granted.

Nayatel moved to court pleading that under section 27A(2) of the Telecommunication Act, 1996, it was entitled to a right of way which was deemed to have been granted if the owner of ROW did not respond to the request within a period of thirty days.

Nayatel moved to court against Reiver Gardens and was granted an order on 31 January 2023 which stated “application of the petitioner for grant of a temporary injunction is hereby accepted subject to the imposition of such conditions as to payment of fees, etc. Ad-interim, injunction granted earlier stands confirmed”.

On receipt of no response from the society, Nayatel moved for contempt of court proceedings which led to the issue of 30-day arrest orders on the Managing Director of River Gardens.

The landmark judgement comes at a time when the telecom industry struggles to obtain ROW from public or private housing societies, municipalities, and roads and rail authorities. Delays and demand of exorbitant fees from owners of ROW are termed as major impediments in the spread of fiber broadband and 3/4G mobile towers.