LHC stays land acquisition for Ring Road portion.

LAHORE -- The Lahore High Court on Friday stayed the land acquisition process for construction of Ring Road Southern Loop-III (SL-III).

Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan issued the stay order on a petition by a factory owner and also appointed a local commission to visit the land in question and apprise the court of the factual position.

The petitioner, Muhammad Ilyas, challenged the acquisition of land mainly on grounds of illegal change in the project design.

His counsel, Mian Bilal Ahmad, argued before the court that a straight road was finalised in the original design of the project. H

owever, he said, the Ring Road Authority (RRA) later changed the design allegedly to protect the land of some favourites. Mandatory approval had not been sought from the relevant municipal council to modify the design, he added.

The counsel further said the petitioner and a number of factory owners were affected by changes in the Ring Road design as his land of over five kanal would be used for the...