Islamabad High Court Suspends Its Earlier Order to Dissolve CDA

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Division Bench has suspended the order of a single bench that directed the dissolution of the Capital Development Authority (CDA). The decision came during the hearing of an intra-court appeal filed by the CDA against the earlier ruling. The Division Bench comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Inam Amin Minhas heard the appeal and suspended the single bench order issued by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. The earlier ruling had directed the federal government to dissolve the CDA and transfer all its powers to the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC). During the proceedings, Advocate Kashif Ali Malik appeared on behalf of the CDA. The court inquired about the nature of the petitions that led to the original dissolution order. The counsel representing the parties clarified that the petitions had sought the removal of Right of Way (ROW) charges on fuel stations located along Islamabad’s main highways not the dissolution of the CDA itself. The bench questioned whether the counsels intended to defend the dissolution decision. The lawyers categorically stated that neither was the dissolution of CDA their request nor would they defend such an order. Following these statements, the Division Bench suspended the single bench’s ruling regarding both the local government elections and the dissolution of the CDA. It is pertinent to mention that in late June, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had ordered the federal government to dissolve the CDA and transfer its authority to the IMC. That judgment stemmed from two writ petitions challenging a 2015 Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) under which CDA imposed Right of Way charges on petrol and CNG stations located along major highways in the capital. Justice Kayani had observed that the CDA’s imposition of direct taxes and access charges overlooked the provisions of the Local Government Act 2015, rendering the move unlawful under the CDA Ordinance 1960.