Police officers walk past the Supreme Court of Pakistan building, in Islamabad, Pakistan April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The first public interest petition following the 27th Constitutional Amendment has been filed in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) under Article 175A(3).
The petition, filed by Advocate Taqweem Shah through senior lawyer Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar, seeks to halt the construction of a flyover allegedly being built on land belonging to the Balochistan Institute of Nephro-Urology (Binuq) on Sariab/Samungli Road in Quetta.
It requests the court to immediately stop the project, arguing that the flyover is being constructed adjacent to, and partly on, the hospital’s land without lawful acquisition or compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, thereby violating constitutional property rights under Articles 23 and 24.
Binuq is the province’s only specialized kidney hospital treating patients from Quetta and remote districts, and the ongoing construction has created serious risks to patients by disrupting ambulance access, emergency services, and dialysis operations due to heavy machinery, dust, and noise, it says.
The petition further states that the hospital administration had earlier approached the Balochistan High Court (BHC), which granted interim relief, but the case was allegedly withdrawn on December 10, 2025, under pressure.
According to the petition, the hospital had proposed the construction of an underpass as an alternative. The Government of Balochistan and the Works and Services Department have been made respondents in the case.
Balochistan’s health infrastructure remains one of the weakest in Pakistan, shaped by chronic underinvestment, difficult geography, and long-standing governance challenges.
Vast distances between scattered populations mean that access to basic healthcare is often limited to poorly equipped basic health units and rural health centres.
