KARACHI, Nov 18: A division bench of the Sindh High Court asked the provincial government and the city government on Monday to explain on Nov 25 the extent of their liability in respect of the private property, including houses and residential plots, acquired for the construction of the Lyari Expressway.

The bench, which consisted of Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Syed Ali Aslam Jafri, heard 33 identical petitions against acquisition of residential plots for the expressway project. Eleven of them were found to have occupied plots without lease from any civic agency. They had long been in possession of the property but without any legal title. The court observed that they had better accept the government’s offer of an 80-square yard plot and Rs50,000 in cash in lieu of their occupancy rights, and disposed of their petitions.

Twenty-two petitioners submitted documents to show that they were old KMC leaseholders and could not be deprived of their rights by the provincial government. In order to ascertain whether the city government had taken any action as successor to the KMC, the court asked the counsel for both the city and provincial governments to appear on Nov 25 to clarify the position of their respective clients.