ISLAMABAD: Justice Amir Hani Muslim on Monday recused himself from the Supreme Court bench hearing Punjab government’s appeal against Lahore High Court decision ordering to halt construction of Orange Line metro train project around 11 heritage sites in Lahore.
After his recusal, the hearing of the appeal was adjourned for indefinite period.
At the very outset of the hearing, Justice Hani said that he could not sit in the bench hearing the case on ‘personal reasons’.
The Punjab Mass Transit Authority’s counsel pleaded the court to hear the appeal on urgent basis, upon which Justice Hani said that how he could hear the case on urgent basis when he was recusing himself from the bench.
It is to be mentioned here that on August 19, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had barred provincial authorities from carrying out construction work within a distance of 200 feet of around 11 heritage sites including Shalimar Gardens, Gulabi Bagh Gateway, Chauburji, Buddhu ka Awa, Zebunnisa’s Tomb, Lakshmi Building, General Post Office, Aiwan-e-Auqaf, SC Lahore registry building, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at Nabha Road and Baba Mauj Darya Bukhari’s Shrine.
The Orange Line project is an ambitious project of the Punjab government which promises to lay a 27.1 kilometre Rapid transit line which is expected to benefit 250,000 people every day.
Activists argue that the Orange Line metro track is damaging heritage buildings and sites of the city.
