PESHAWAR: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the case related to the New Peshawar Valley project until January 21 and directed that the matter would be taken up on the next date.
The court also extended the existing stay order till January 21.
At the start of the proceedings, the court was informed that the counsel for the petitioner, Ms Gulfam, was unable to appear before the court, and therefore sought an adjournment of the hearing.
During the hearing, Provincial Housing Authority Director General Imran Wazir and Deputy Director Kashif Sikandari appeared before the bench along with their counsels.They informed the bench that the project covered an area of more than 100,000 kanals and would provide residential facilities to hundreds of thousands of people. They termed the project as a unique and landmark initiative.
They said that the PC-1 had been prepared and approved by the government and that no-objection certificates had been obtained from all relevant departments. They pleaded that more than 100,000 kanals of land had already been acquired, but due to a stay order issued in one of the cases, the project had been facing continuous delays.
They prayed the court to vacate the stay order so that work on the project could commence, particularly in view of rising costs due to inflation.DG Imran Wazir told the court that he was personally supervising the project.
The court observed that since the petitioner’s counsel had sought an adjournment, the case could not be heard at this stage. The hearing was therefore deferred till January 21 with directions that the case would be taken up on the next date.
It is pertinent to mention that the government has already approved the funds and PC-1 for the establishment of New Peshawar Valley and had so far acquired over 100,000 kanals of land.
The project is being termed as the first modern housing scheme of its kind in the region, ensuring the provision of all essential facilities.According to DG Imran Wazir, all preparations had been completed and development work would begin immediately after the stay order was vacated, for which all necessary arrangements were already in place.
