The court expressed displeasure at the LDA officials, who have been accused of illegal construction in Lahore city and now they have been deputed to anti- corruption department. Justice Javed Iqbal observed 'it is so strange that those LDA directors, who were involved in corruption, are working for eradication of corruption.
After seeing high rise buildings in Lahore, citizens of the Quetta and Peshawar are also constructing high rise plazas illegally, he added. Justice Sair Ali observed that time has come for the apex court to take difficult decisions and it (SC) would never accept influence of any party in this case.
The court directed the LDA counsel, Khawaja Haris to submit a report regarding the steps, so far taken against the accused LDA officials. Counsel for Big City Plaza's owners, Hamid Khan and Abul Hafeez Pirzada argued before the court that Big City Plaza is situated in (Gulburg) Lahore and it is 11-storeyed building. They contended that after the apex court order regarding the demolishment of illegal high rise building, LDA is demolishing 11th storey of the Big City Plaza, which would affect the whole structure of the building as well.
They contended that it is not a simple case, as the demolishment of that building would badly affect the economy to the some extent. They also pointed out that one working hospital has also been demolished due to the short order of the apex court.
Abdul Hafeez Pirzad argued that the court issued short order in haste and did not mention the reasons of demolishing in detail. He pleaded that the court should review its earlier judgement. After hearing his arguments, the court reserved its judgement but directed the LDA to stop demolishing the Big City Plaza building till the final decision and adjourned the hearing till January 27.