Islamabad's Gun and Country Club is illegal, SC rules

ISLAMABAD:  The Gun and Country Club in federal capital is declared illegal by the Supreme Court on Monday.

“The club has no legal standing,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar remarked while supervising a bench hearing a case pertaining to the legality of construction of Gun and Country Club and building of a new wedding hall on its premises.

“The land on which the club has been established belongs to Pakistan Sports Board, there is no legal approval for the construction of the club and people who are members of the club took membership at their own risk,” the top judge asserted.

The bench nullified the Musharraf-era notification regarding the club’s establishment and ordered the sports board to take over land on which the Gun and Country Club is established.

Further, the chief justice directed the Survey of Pakistan to demarcate 145 acres of land on which the club is established within two weeks. Whereas, the sports board was ordered to employ the club’s employees.

The Supreme Court bench questioned, “The land was allotted to the sports board, how was a gun club established on it?”

To this, the Gun and Country Club legal counsel informed that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) gave the land on lease to the sports board and then the club administration leased it from board.

The Gun and Country Club was constructed in 2002 at the foot of Shakarparian Hills.