ISLAMABAD: After about a decade-long construction work, Islamabad High Court (IHC) finally resumed working in its new building at the Constitution Avenue on Monday.

However, the palatial premises lacks basic facilities as lawyers and litigants found no decent place where they can wait for hearing of their cases.

There was neither any shelter in the scorching heat nor were arrangements for drinking water, said a lawyer.

He said cleanliness and finishing work on the building was also yet to complete.

The lawyers and litigants faced problems in parking their cars and motorbikes as the parking lot was also not ready, he added.

Officials of the IHC, on the other hand, asked them to exercise patience.

They expressed the hope that the issues will be resolved in next few days.

In 2012, the Capital Development Authority had approved allotment of five acres for the IHC building.

The construction work on the building had hit snag in April 2015 when allegations related to lack of transparency in the pre-qualification of the contractor firm, ‘Interhome’, came to the fore.

The contract was cancelled for not being in accordance with rules of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2023