Judge recuses himself from Orange Line metro case

ISLAMABAD: Hearing for the Orange Line metro project adjourned for an unspecified time as one of the judges in the bench, Justice Hani Muslim recused himself from the case citing ‘personal reasons’.

On Saturday, Justice Amir Hani Muslim also backed out of a bench hearing the Panama Leaks case.

A five-member bench headed by the former Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali began hearing the Orange Line metro case, after the Punjab government filed an appeal in the apex court over a Lahore High Court decision, asking them to halt construction around 11 heritage sites.

On August 19, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had barred provincial authorities from carrying out construction work within a distance of 200 feet of around 11 heritage sites including Shalimar Gardens, Gulabi Bagh Gateway, Chauburji, Buddhu ka Awa, Zebunnisa’s Tomb, Lakshmi Building, General Post Office, Aiwan-e-Auqaf, SC Lahore registry building, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at Nabha Road and Baba Mauj Darya Bukhari’s Shrine.

The Orange Line project is an ambitious project of the Punjab government which promises to lay a 27.1 kilometre Rapid transit line which is expected to benefit 250,000 people every day.

Activists argue that the Orange Line metro track is damaging heritage buildings and sites of the city.