Judges displeased with IHC building’s construction

ISLAMABAD: The full court meeting of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the serious flaws found in the construction of the newly-built court building and deliberated upon conducting an in-depth inquiry through a reputable firm.

Chief Justice Aamer Farooq presided over the full court meeting.

The meeting also deliberated upon the live streaming of the court proceedings and constituted a two-judge committee comprising Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz to devise a strategy and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for live streaming, sources said.

They further added that the committee would seek input from other judges of the IHC to formulate the SOPs for live streaming.

The meeting participants expressed displeasure over the lethargy of the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) after it failed to submit report on the inbuilt flaws in the construction of the IHC building which had cost at least Rs11 billion and took almost a decade to build.

Chief Justice Aamer Farooq ordered an inquiry after an elevator in the high court malfunctioned in August, stranding over a dozen people, including lawyers, for over 30 minutes.

The housing ministry was tasked to probe the incident, but it failed to fix responsibility.

On August 25, the high court ordered an inquiry and sought a report.

Sources told Dawn that an inquiry was conducted by the PWD, construction firm Habib Rafiq (Private) Limited and others which highlighted several faults in the elevator but did not hold anyone responsible for the flaws.

The report stated that the elevator lacked certain features, which were included in the prototype, as well as the given specifications. It, however, did not identify those who were responsible for the installation and maintenance of the elevator.

In addition to the faulty elevators, the new IHC building is plagued by a host of issues, such as an inefficient cooling system and improper parking lot for litigants and lawyers.

Similarly, the firefighting system, IT, lightning protection system and the security systems are yet to be installed in the building.

According to experts, the IHC building is the most expensive structure in the capital, incurring a cost of over Rs11 billion.