Federal Constitutional Court Overturns Supreme Court Ruling Enabling Restaurant Demolition in Margalla Hills National Park

ISLAMABAD – The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday overturned a 2024 Supreme Court judgment that had authorized the demolition of the Monal Group of Companies, La Montana, and Gloria Jeans facilities within the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

The Supreme Court had ordered the closure of Monal and the adjacent La Montana restaurant on August 21, 2024, and they were shut down the following month to safeguard the park’s biodiversity.

A panel led by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and including Justices Aamer Farooq and Syed Arshad Hussain Shah heard review petitions submitted by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI).

The petitions contested the Supreme Court’s directives that instructed the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) to assume control of the restaurants — Monal, La Montana, and Gloria Jeans — situated within the park, and required the CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory Police to support the wildlife board in this effort.

The reversal of the judgment also lifted the stay previously imposed when the FCC determined that ownership disputes should be adjudicated by trial courts, uninfluenced by judicial observations, while administrative issues would be resolved by the appropriate regulatory authorities.

The FCC instructed the trial courts to adjudicate the pending cases promptly. During the hearing, Justice Rizvi noted that the Supreme Court’s ruling had overlooked several pertinent issues, emphasizing that decisions must be grounded in law rather than emotion or extraneous factors.

Senior counsel Ahsan Bhoon expressed appreciation for the court’s decision on behalf of the restaurants, but Justice Rizvi replied that commendation was unnecessary, asserting that the court should decide matters solely on a solid legal foundation.

In its earlier order, the Supreme Court had ordered that the park’s entrances leading to the restaurant sites be barricaded before demolition, ensuring minimal disturbance to wildlife and protecting the park’s trees.

On September 10, 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed a comparable set of review petitions filed by the Monal Group of Companies, Capital View Point Restaurant (La Montana), Sunshine Heights (Pvt) Ltd, and retired Brigadier Falak Naz Bangash of the defence ministry.

In rejecting the petitions, the Supreme Court characterized Monal Group’s Luqman Ali Afzal as effectively a trespasser, stating that he lacked any legal right to retain possession of the land within the MHNP.

Similarly, the operation of a restaurant by the owners of La Montana and Gloria Jeans contravened the provisions of the Islamabad Wildlife (Protection, Preservation and Management) Ordinance.

The Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment observed that the operators of these restaurants — and those who allowed them to operate — had violated the park’s integrity, damaged its trees and vegetation, and disrupted endemic wildlife.

It also noted that the park’s natural environment had been adversely impacted, compromising its functions such as serving as a rain‑water catchment area and supporting the recharge of springs and streams.

The SC warned that an enormous environmental cost had been imposed on the public and would persist for future generations.

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