The Federal Constitutional Court has set aside the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the demolition of Monal Restaurant, marking a significant development in the case concerning the restaurant located in the Margalla Hills.
The court ruled that the issue of land ownership will be decided by the relevant trial court.
Accepting the appeals filed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation, the Federal Constitutional Court observed that the land ownership dispute is still pending before a civil court. It held that the matter should therefore be decided by the trial court, which must do so without being influenced by the observations made in the Supreme Court’s earlier judgment.
The court also directed the trial courts to dispose of the pending cases at the earliest, while administrative matters should be left to the relevant regulatory authorities.
During the hearing, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi remarked that several important legal issues had not been considered in the previous judgment. He observed that courts decide cases according to the law rather than emotions, and that judicial decisions should not include irrelevant observations. He further remarked that the earlier judgment contained several observations that were not part of the judicial proceedings.
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It is pertinent to note that on June 11, 2024, a Supreme Court bench headed by then Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had declared commercial activities in Margalla Hills National Park illegal and ordered the demolition of Monal Restaurant. The restaurant was subsequently demolished in compliance with the court’s order.
Following the Federal Constitutional Court’s latest ruling, the case has taken a new legal direction.
