24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, April 23: The Supreme Court has upheld Sindh High Court's order of closing down steel fabrication plants near residential buildings, school, a church and a hospital in the vicinity of Eidgah Police, Karachi.

"Overwhelming evidence has been brought on record to establish that the functioning of the industrial workshops has been proved injurious to life, health and property of the dwellers of the area," said a 34-page detailed order by a three- member bench comprising Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwandas and Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan.

"Therefore, the high court in its May 12, 1996 order was perfectly justified in granting relief to the aggrieved party by holding that the use of heavy machinery for cutting, rolling of heavy iron plates and welding plants to manufacture heavy containers, water and petrol tanks and poultry feed machines were injurious to life and health of the population in the neighbourhood," the order said while dismissing the appeals.

The order stated that these workshops not only disturbed the peace of the chronic heart patients, diabetes and tuberculosis, but also the church-goers and the students of the nearby school.

It may be mentioned here that these workshops are situated at the crossing of the Baba-i-Urdu and Nishtar Road corner falling in the jurisdiction of Eidgah Police. Advocates M. Bilal, Tariq Bilal and Kokab Iqbal represented the aggrieved residents of the nearby buildings before the apex court while Syed Haider Ali Pirzada and Muhammad Akram Sheikh appeared for the workshop owners.

The initial complaint against the workshops - Mazhar and Brothers, Waseem Brothers, Islamuddin and Sons and Faran Engineering Works - was moved in 1983 before the advocate- general, under Section 91 of the Civil Procedure Code, who had allowed the institution of a suit against the workshops.

The complainants had alleged that the workshop owners had originally used the plot for producing cement blocks to raise a five-storey building on rent. Later, they installed heavy steel cutting and welding equipment on the land to start industrial workshops for the fabrication of the heavy steel items.