The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Balochistan government to provide land within one month for the stone crushing plants. The court instructed the chief secretary of the province to appear in person to tell the reasons if the land was not allocated within the said time.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the case. Justice Ayesha A. Malik observed that the court had ordered to notify wildlife parks in last hearing. The provincial government neither notified the park land nor it was allocating alternate land to the stone crushing plants. Justice Ayesha further remarked that plant owners had been waiting for years and the government couldn’t address the matter. Justice Athar Minallah remarked that why not the chief secretary should be summoned if the issue was not being resolved.
If the law officers were unable to take a decision then the chief secretary was responsible, he said. Additional advocate general Balochistan prayed the court to grant some time so that they could resolve the matter after consultation with the crushers. He said that the director mines had shown the land to the representatives of crushers near Quetta but they didn’t want to move there.
He prayed the court to grant two months time instead of one month. The chief justice remarked that the court couldn’t grant much time as it would affect the image of provincial government.—NNI
