The Islamabad High Court has restrained the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the city’s main civic planning body, from taking any further step that would affect an ancestral burial ground in Sector D-12, marking a fresh turn in the CDA graveyard case Islamabad residents have been watching.
Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued a written interim order on Tuesday while hearing a petition filed by Waqar Ahmed. The plea seeks protection for the Elahi Mosque graveyard in Mauza Sari Saral, Sector D-12, and challenges the proposed removal of graves. The court also asked the CDA to submit a written response.
What the petitioner told the court
Waqar Ahmed submitted that the graves of his ancestors and other residents lie at the site. He asked the court to stop the CDA from carrying out development work, building roads, or levelling the land there.
According to the petition, revenue records, survey reports and Google Maps imagery also identify the place as a graveyard and funeral ground. Counsel for the petitioner asked the court to order fencing and demarcation so the burial ground is protected from encroachment or removal, and to secure it before any development begins in the area.
What the interim order requires
In its interim order, the court directed that the existing position of the graveyard be maintained. It sought a written reply from the CDA to the petition. That means the civic body is not free, for now, to alter the site while the Islamabad High Court graveyard case continues.
The restraint covers further action affecting the ancestral graveyard. The petition itself frames the dispute around development, roads and land-levelling, and around the fear that graves could be removed. The court’s written order freezes the current state of the ground until the CDA answers on paper.
What comes next in the CDA graveyard case
The next formal step on the record is the CDA’s written reply. The court has not yet ruled on the petitioner’s wider requests for fencing and permanent demarcation. Those points remain before the bench as the CDA graveyard case Islamabad proceeds after the interim restraint.
Families with relatives buried at Elahi Mosque, and residents of D-12 who use the site as a funeral ground, will watch whether the existing layout stays intact while the authority explains its position. Any lasting decision on development or protection measures will depend on how the case moves after the reply is filed.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Islamabad High Court ne CDA ko D-12 ke Elahi Mosque wale qabristan ko abhi change karne se rok diya hai. Waqar Ahmed ne kaha ke un ke buzurgon aur doosron ki qabrein wahan hain. Ab CDA ko court ko likh kar jawab dena hoga. Jab tak ye order hai, qabristan ki maujooda soorat ko barqarar rakhna hai.
