KARACHI, April 16: Another 187 acres of coastal land was retrieved by the provincial government when the Sindh High Court dismissed a writ petition requesting it to uphold the petitioners' ownership and possession of it on the basis of their ancestral right.
The petitioners' claim in respect of the land, situated in Deh Lal Bakkar, was initially rejected by the deputy commissioner (West). They challenged the rejection in the provincial board of revenue.
While their objections were still pending, the board member for land utilization decided to exercise his suo motu powers under Section 164 of the Land Revenue Act. He asked the DC to make necessary entries in the right of record. The member's order was overruled by the board and the petitioners approached the high court in its constitutional jurisdiction.
Contesting the petition, Additional Advocate-General M. Ahmed Pirzada submitted before the division bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Ghulam Rabbani, that a member of the board of revenue had no authority to exercise suo motu powers in a pending matter. He should have decided the objections to the DC's report filed by the petitioners rather than settling the question on his own.
He said the owners had no rightful claim to the land and had never paid any dues in respect of it. Their ownership or possession was not borne out by the record of rights and the revenue officials at the district and taluka level had rightly rejected their claim.
Another division bench had recently dismissed a claim to the "French Beach" on the basis of "khori" rights. The bench held that the claimant petitioners were at best licensees enjoying easement over government land.
INSPECTION ORDERED: The Sindh High Court ordered inspection of a 10-storey building on Friday and restrained the builders from carrying out further constructions in the meanwhile.
The order was passed on an urgent application moved by the Karachi Building Control Authority, stating that Trade Tower, built over 1,000 square feet in front of the Services Club in the Civil Lines, was in gross violation of the building regulations and its approved design.
As the KBCA was initiating action against the Landmark Builders and Developers, they got some of the purchasers/allottees of shops in the building to institute suits. The plaintiffs obtained stay orders in the suit proceedings.
The KBCA also submitted through its counsel, Shahid Jamil Khan, that the stay orders granted by the high court were being misused by the builders to raise new violative structures. Nine floors have been constructed in violation of the approved plan, which provided for six storeys. The mandatory open space had been covered.
The counsel stated that shops have been constructed in the basement, which was reserved for parking. No parking space has been provided at all. When the KBCA pointed out the violation, the builders gave an undertaking that "a car lift" would be installed in the plaza and that the roof-top would be used as a parking lot.
The undertaking remains unfulfilled as the builders contravene more building regulations in the congested commercial area along a very busy road. Third party interests, the KBCA submitted in its application and through its counsel, were being flagrantly created although the authority had not issued the requisite no-objection certificate.
It was being blamed for overlooking gross violations as the stay orders were being abused. Its staff was not being allowed to enter the building. Granting the urgent application in one of the pending suits, Justice Mushir Alam asked the SHC nazir to inspect the site.
If any construction activity was going on, the nazir should notify the builders and others concerned. The builders were also asked not to create third party interests in the meanwhile. The KBCA was asked to produce the approved design along with revised plan, if any, on the next date.
IEP: Justice S. Ali Aslam Jaffrey of High Court of Sindh on Friday ordered the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) to authenticate the electoral lists before holding elections, adds APP.
The bench was hearing a suit filed by Anwar-ul-Haq Siddiqui, representative of the administrator, IEP, Lahore, against Ikramul-Haq Siddiqui, Naeemur-Rahman of IEP, Karachi Centre.
Earlier, Bilal A. Khawaja, appearing for the plaintiff, submitted that elections are going to be held without revising the electoral rolls in accordance with the constitution and bylaws of the association.
He further contended that the names of 250 defaulters are maintained and included in the rolls. A total of 208 members who are not residing in the limits of Karachi centre are also included in the rolls, besides names of 12 members who have expired also appear in the list.
The bench also heard Khawaja Shamsul Islam, counsel for defendants, and held that "controversy can be resolved by directing the IEP headquarters in Lahore to authenticate the electoral rolls strictly in accordance with the bylaws of the association within three weeks from the receipt of this order where after authenticated list is to be sent to Karachi Local Centre". The bench allowed the request and dismissed the suit as withdrawn.
