ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended a single bench’s verdict that had ordered the dissolution of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the transfer of its functions and assets to the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI).
The division bench, comprising Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir and Justice Rana Inaam Ameen Minhas, heard an intra-court appeal challenging the ruling issued earlier by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. During the hearing, Advocate Kashif Ali Malik represented the CDA.
The bench questioned the scope of the original petition, asking what issue had prompted such a far-reaching order. The counsel explained that the petition had merely sought the abolition of Right of Way (ROW) charges imposed by the CDA on fuel stations and other commercial entities, and not the dissolution of the authority.
The single bench found that the CDA’s imposition of ROW charges lacked constitutional and statutory authority.https://t.co/QPcjjCzIKC
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) November 12, 2025
When asked if they would defend the single bench’s decision, the counsel replied, “Neither was our plea to dissolve the CDA, nor will we defend such an order.”
After hearing arguments, the division bench suspended Justice Kayani’s directives regarding both the dissolution of the CDA and the holding of local government elections, restoring the authority’s operations until the appeal is decided.
Justice Kayani’s judgement, announced last week, had struck down SRO No. 576(I)/2015, which introduced ROW charges on businesses accessing main roads, declaring the levy “illegal and unconstitutional.” He had ruled that the ICT Local Government Act 2015 effectively repealed Section 15-A of the CDA Ordinance 1960, transferring all municipal, regulatory, and taxation powers to the MCI.
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Calling the 65-year-old civic body an “obsolete institution”, the court had directed the federal government to initiate proceedings under Section 52 of the CDA Ordinance for its formal dissolution. The verdict had also ordered the refund of ROW charges collected since 2015 and an audit of the CDA’s accounts by the Auditor General of Pakistan.
The division bench’s suspension of the order now allows the CDA to continue functioning pending further judicial review.
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