Islamabad High Court overturns ruling declaring Pakistan Naval Farms and sailing club illegal

The Islamabad High Court has set aside a 2022 judgment that declared Pakistan Naval Farms and the Pakistan Navy Sailing Club along Rawal Lake illegal.

A division bench comprising Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas and Justice Shahrukh Arjumand allowed intra-court appeals filed by the Ministry of Defence, former naval chief Admiral (retd) Zafar Mahmood Abbasi and other affected parties. The ruling also nullified directions to demolish the sailing club and begin misconduct and criminal proceedings against Abbasi and other officers.

The bench overturned an order directing the Auditor General of Pakistan to assess alleged losses to the national exchequer and recover the money from officials deemed responsible. It also set aside the finding that the transfer of Naval Farms to the Pakistan Navy was illegal, along with an order to transfer the land to the headquarters office.

During the hearing, federation and Defence Ministry counsel Sardar Ahmed Jamal Sukhera argued that the original petition mainly concerned notices issued by Pakistan Naval Farms over alleged violations of building bylaws. He said the farms’ directorate had informed the Capital Development Authority in 2020 that the facility had to comply with the authority’s bylaws under its no-objection certificate. Notices were then issued to residents, and Naval Farms later told all residents that the bylaws would take effect immediately.

Sukhera argued that these steps occurred before the 2022 judgment and had already addressed the petition’s main grievance. He said the single-bench ruling made unsupported findings against the armed forces. He also challenged the petition’s maintainability after an amendment added objections concerning the sailing club, arguing that public-interest litigation could not proceed where the petitioner had a personal interest. In a separate appeal, he argued that the earlier judgment violated natural justice, due process and fair-trial principles.