KARACHI: SHC orders restoration of electricity to 59 shops
By Shujaat Ali Khan
KARACHI, April 14: The Sindh High Court ordered the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation on Thursday to restore connections of 59 petitioner shopkeepers.The petitioners complained through Advocate M Ilyas Khan that about 102 shops in Matin Centre, Tariq Road, were denied power supply when they failed to pay outstanding bills for two ‘mysterious’ meters installed at the centre.
The meters do not belong to any of the shopkeepers but regularly show consumption of electricity. The consumer is not known and the shopkeepers are asked to pay the bills issued on the basis of meter readings jointly in addition to their own bills. They moved an urgent application for restoration of their severed connections pending hearing of their petition.
Issuing notices to the KESC and its officials for a date in office, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Maqbool Baqar, ordered that connections be restored in the meanwhile. KESC officials were present at the hearing, besides the corporation’s counsel, who contested the plea.
The bench also issued notices for a date in office to the KESC chairman and other respondents in another petition seeking restoration of connection. Petitioner Hashmatullah submitted through Advocate Akhtar Jamal that power supply to his house at Orangi had been disconnected. Inquiries revealed that his tenant, who has vacated the premises, had been using a ‘kunda’ and neither consumed electricity through the meter, nor paid any bill. He was issued a bill for Rs 35,900 as landlord.
The petitioner said the corporation, meanwhile, announced a relief package for defaulters and others who had their supply disconnected. The consumers were required to pay 70 per cent of the bill for restoration but the KESC officials were not allowing him to benefit from the package. He requested the court to direct the KESC to restore his connection under the relief package.
RESTRAINED: The Sindh High Court restrained the city district government on Thursday from finalizing auction of outdoor advertising sites.
The order was passed in an appeal moved by Vision Publicity through Advocate Mohammad Sharif. The appeal questions a single judge’s refusal to grant a stay order against public auction of the advertising sites.
According to the appellants, they had long been holding licences for outdoor advertising. They regularly paid their dues and abided by the rules. If the city government wanted to raise charges, it should have negotiated with the licence-holders whose performance had been satisfactory. Only the new sites could have been auctioned. They were neither issued a notice, nor given an opportunity to press their claim.
When the single judge declined a stay order, the city government went ahead with the auction and the appellants moved to prevent further action. The appellate bench barred the city government from finalizing the auction proceedings pending the hearing of the appeal.
COMMENTS SOUGHT: The Sindh High Court asked the city district government on Thursday to file comments on a petition seeking removal of street barriers and encroachments from footpaths.
The petitioner, Syed Iqbal Ahmad, submitted through Advocate B.M. Bangash that the street on which his house (A-95) was situated in Block 2 of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, had been blocked for several months by installation of illegal and unauthorized barriers. Encroachments on public footpaths had also been made by planting of trees, construction of cemented platforms and garages, and installation of iron gates. They constituted both public and private nuisance as the public had been effectively prevented from using the footpaths and access to his house had been obstructed.
The petitioner said encroachments and barriers were violative of the provisions of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001.The city district government and the city and union council nazims were responsible for their removal under the Sindh Public Property (Removal of Encroachments) Act, 1975, also. He served a notice on the respondents to discharge their legal obligation and also sought damages amounting to Rs 5 million on various counts but it failed to elicit any response.
Reserving his right to sue the respondents for damages, the petitioner requested the high court to order the city district government to carry out their legal duty and immediately dismantle/remove the barriers and encroachments.
A division bench, comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery asked, issued notices to the respondents and asked them to file comments.
