27 October 2004	Wednesday	12 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 26: A division bench of the Sindh High Court accepted on Tuesday a Karachi Building Control Authority plea for urgent hearing of its application for bar on registration of sale deeds in the absence of a no-objection certificate issued by it.

Arguing in favour of the application before Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Amir Hani Muslim, who constituted the division bench, KBCA counsel Shahid Jamil Khan said the condition was meant to give effect to the provisions of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979, and protect the interest of innocent purchasers. Unscrupulous builders and developers passed on defective titles to the purchasers or allottees, who then had to pay for violations committed by them.

The counsel said developers or owners of plots were required by the SBCO not only to have their construction plans approved by the KBCA, but also obtain completion and no-objection certificates before advertizing the sale and final transfer of apartments, houses and shops. They were also obliged by the law to secure occupancy certificates before allowing the purchasers to take up residence or start business in the new premises.

An SHC division bench, the counsel submitted, had passed an order for ensuring compliance with the SBCO provisions and in pursuance of it, the provincial board of revenue issued a notification mandating the production of a KBCA no-objection certificate as a condition precedent to registration of sale deeds in respect of urban immovable property in the Karachi division.

The order was relaxed by another division bench and the board of revenue withdrew its notification by misconstruing it.

Allowing the urgent hearing plea, Justices SJ Osmany and AH Muslim referred the application to the chief justice for assignment to the division bench, comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Maqbool Baqar, whose order was allegedly misconstrued by the board of revenue.

PARKING LOTS: Justice Khilji Arif Hussain asked a person claiming to be the developer of the 'Kehkashan Project' on Tariq Road to produce the title documents he relied upon by Wednesday.

The order came on a stay application moved by the owner of a 'health club' known as Slimmers Club in the basement of the ground-plus-three floor building complex, which was meant for parking.

The applicant claimed to be owner of the project and sought an interim injunction against the KBCA, which had partially demolished the structure for violation.

The KBCA counsel submitted that the applicant had no locus standi and was only running a club in the violative basement. The KBCA, he said, was indiscriminately demolishing basements which have been converted into shopping areas or put to some other use. Thirty-three such basements had already been demolished to restore parking lots. A policy decision was taken at the highest level to restore parking lots in view of increasing traffic congestion in the city, he submitted.

The court asked the applicant to produce his title documents and adjourned further hearing to Wednesday.

LDA, MDA CASE: The Sindh High Court was informed on Tuesday that the notification regarding devolution of two defunct development authorities with the city government was not set aside, but the operation of the notification had been stayed till the resolution of the issue, adds PPI.

SHC's division bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Maqbool Baqar, was hearing the petition of the CDGK, challenging notification of the Sindh government in which it suspended the City Nazim's recent notification in respect of devolving Lyari Development Authority (LDA) and Malir Development Authority (MDA) with the CDGK.

The court adjourned the hearing till Nov 3 as petitioner's counsel Raja Haq Nawaz sought time to file the rebuttal on respondent's comments.