PESHAWAR: The provincial government and the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) are now prohibited from acquiring property for the New Peshawar Valley, one of the largest government residential developments in the region, due to a stay order imposed by the Peshawar High Court.
The details show that action on Dec. 14, 2020, notification sent by the land acquisition collector under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for the housing project will be halted until further instructions, according to a bench made up of Justice Syed Shakeel Ahmad and Syed Arshad Ali.
The court sent letters to the respondents, the provincial housing secretary, the Provincial Housing Authority, and the PDA, asking them to respond to the petition against the housing project.
The petition was filed jointly by several residents of various villages, including Gul Fama and others, who alleged that the government had issued the contested notification to arbitrarily acquire their land for the New Peshawar Valley housing scheme.
The petitioners stated that two other projects, Regi Model Town Peshawar and Jalozai Housing Scheme Nowshera, had been started but were still unfinished.
However, they claimed that the government had started the new program because of “vested interests.”
The judges questioned how and why the New Peshawar Valley concept was developed, as well as why the provincial administration had authorized the housing project.
Besides, respondents were also questioned if it was necessary to start the housing program after the government “abandoned” two similar initiatives, Regi Model Town Peshawar and Jalozai Housing Scheme Nowshera.
The petitioners’ attorney, Mohammad Tariq Afridi, said that his clients lived in many villages and owned a sizable amount of agricultural property near the location of the planned housing development.
The bench ordered that the petition be scheduled for hearing in the third week of next month. It also instructed respondents to address any concerns mentioned in their remarks.
