SC overturns IHC verdict to seal Monal Restaurant

SC overturns IHC verdict to seal Monal Restaurant situated at the Margalla Hills National Park!

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court has overturned an Islamabad High Court (IHC) verdict that directed authorities to seal the Monal Restaurant in the federal capital.

The SC observed that the Islamabad High Court had never released the order to seal the Monal Restaurant and suspended the unsigned short order of the IHC.

A three-member bench, comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, and Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, during the hearing, said that the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board had sealed the restaurant without a certified order of IHC.

“The magistrate had ordered to seal Monal Restaurant without due notice, the restaurants in the surroundings of Monal were notified before they were sealed,” the court said.

However, the court said it was not yet aware of the IHC decision’s legal aspect.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Jan 11 had ordered authorities to seal Monal Restaurant.

“This court will protect the wider public interest,” the judge had said, noting that the national park’s land belongs to the state, and no commercial activities could be carried out there.

“No one can even cut the grass on the land; this land belongs to the state.”