11 September 2004	Saturday	25 Rajab 1425

KARACHI, Sept 10: The Sindh High Court adjourned on Friday hearing of a suit against the allegedly violative construction of the Japanese consulate building in Frere Town for final arguments on Oct 6.

A private investment company doing business in adjacent premises on Haji Abdullah Haroon Road has complained that the consulate building was being constructed in violation of rules and regulations and would hinder access to its office.

The approved plan was not available and the consulate did not enjoy diplomatic immunity from legal process in respect of building rules violation, the plaintiff submitted.

The Karachi Building Control Authority, which was impleaded as a defendant, submitted that the construction was proceeding in accordance with its approved plan. It could not supply a copy of the plan to a third party. The Japanese consulate submitted that it could not furnish copies of the plan for security reasons.

The KBCA, however, produced the plan in the court and Justice S. Ali Aslam Jaferi, who is hearing the case, asked the court nazir to inspect the site for violations, if any. The nazir visited the premises and reported that by and large the building was being constructed in conformity with the plan.

As the case was called on Friday, Advocate Faisal Kamal Alam filed objections to the nazir's report on behalf of the plaintiff and requested reinspection of the site in the light of specific violations pointed out by his client.

He said the impugned report has mixed up the issues of compulsory open space and cut-line instead of dealing with them separately. The lawyer said the set-back/cut-line was to be provided on the side of the plot that faced the notified road as required by building regulations of 2002 so that the road could be widened in future.

Similarly, the set-back area was to be measured from the notified road, an exercise not undertaken during the inspection. The owner-builder had to leave uncovered the set-back area besides the compulsory open space.

Except for the fact that the guardroom construction was in violation of the rules, the matter of leaving open the compulsory space had not been clearly highlighted by the report, he maintained.

In another case involving violation of building rules, a division bench, comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Maqbool Baqar, issued show-cause notice to a KBCA deputy controller for not appearing and producing the approved construction plan in respect of an industrial plot in block number 21 of the Federal 'B' Area.

A textile mills has moved a writ petition against the KBCA and another textile mills alleging violative construction by the latter with the approval of the authority.

The bench also issued show-cause notices for contempt against the defunct KDA's director for estate and enforcement and executive engineer for Oct 5.

The petitioner administration of Jamia Banatul Islamia in Pirabad, Orangi Town, alleged that the KDA officials dispossessed it of the premises and demolished the Madressah structure in December 1999 despite a court order to the contrary.