LHC'den 8 Yıllık Çevre Davasında Nihai Karar

LHC issues judgement in 8-year-long public litigation, reaffirms environmental directions

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued its final judgment in an eight-year-old public interest litigation concerning smog and environmental degradation in Punjab, reaffirming its directions and achievements during the marathon proceedings. Justice Shahid Karim, who authored the judgment, described it as the “last judgment in the trilogy”, following two earlier reported rulings in 2023 and 2025 arising from the same continuing proceedings. Justice Karim, who is due to reach superannuation on August 19, began his judgment with a line from the final song in the play Hamilton: “Legacy, what is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.” The judge noted that the judgment culminated the extraordinary and seminal work accomplished in a novel and paradigmatic manner through the judicial review of public actions. “It does not mean that the goal has been accomplished. Far from it. Yet it sets the tone for future actions and lays the groundwork for building resilience and adaptation policies,” he added. He said that, during the course of the proceedings, governments had come on board, though reluctantly at times, and pursued policies based on the court’s decisions. He observed: “A robust culture of decision-making has developed with environmental and water conservation at its heart.” Justice Karim held that there had been critical questioning of the court’s authority to continue the proceedings unabated for more than eight years. “The short answer is the highly consequential issues animating and forming the core of this litigation,” he explained. Key directions and their compliance reaffirmed and consolidated in the judgment included: Smog as a calamity: On the court’s directions, smog was formally declared a calamity, with the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) tasked with leading a dedicated control room for enforcement during the smog season. Brick kilns: Every operational brick kiln in Punjab has been converted to Zig-Zag Technology to cut emissions and each kiln has been assigned a Unique Identification Number for digital monitoring by the Environment Protection Agency. Stubble burning: The court raised penalties for stubble burning violations to Rs200,000 per acre after finding some districts were imposing fines as low as Rs50,000, and directed uniform enforcement across all Deputy Commissioners’ offices. School transport: Private schools have been directed to arrange buses or vans for at least 50 per cent of their students as a condition for registration renewal, to be implemented in phases. Water conservation: Amendments were made to LDA Building and Zoning Regulations making rainwater harvesting mandatory for new construction, and Gray Water Treatment Plants compulsory for all new commercial and residential building plans, with no building approvals to be granted without compliance. As many as 563 service stations across Lahore now operate water recycling plants, cutting fresh water use per car wash by roughly 70pc (from 400 litres to about 120 litres). Ablution water recycling tanks have been installed at over 194 mosques, including a 60,000–70,000-gallon facility at Data Darbar. Groundwater conservation: In compliance with the court’s orders, Wasa Lahore has collected over Rs3.35 billion in aquifer charges from bulk groundwater users since 2018. Separately, 117 recharge wells have been installed across Lahore, while rainwater storage tanks — including a 4-million-gallon facility at Gaddafi Stadium — have been built to combat flooding and recharge aquifers. Protection of public green spaces: The court barred playgrounds and open spaces — including at institutions such as MAO College — from being used for weddings or commercial events, and directed authorities, including DHA, LDA, and the School Education Department to protect and maintain green cover. Judicial review of development projects: The judgment also references two related rulings — the 2023 quashing of the Lahore Division Master Plan 2050 for violating LDA Master Plan Rules, and the striking down of land acquisition for a Gujrat Divisional Complex that would have required felling over 594 kanals of forest land — both cited as major environmental victories achieved through the same broader litigation. In his concluding remarks, Justice Karim paid tribute to the Judicial Water and Environment Commission’s members — retired Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi, Syed Kamal Ali Haider, Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq, and Ch. Zulfiqar Ali — who served pro bono throughout the proceedings. The judge recommended that they and several government officers involved in the implementation of the court’s directions be considered for civil awards. The judge disposed of the main petition filed by Haroon Farooq in 2018, along with a dozen petitions subsequently filed before the court concerning water and environmental issues. Justice Karim concluded the judgment with a poem by Amanda Gorman: “Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is time, that even as we grieved, we grew, that even as we hurt, we hoped, that even as we tired, we tried.”