KARACHI, Aug 3: The Sindh High Court restrained a builder from further construction on a Gulshan-i-Iqbal plot behind the National Stadium. The order was passed on an application moved by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBC) in a pending suit instituted by Ashiana Builders. KBCA counsel Shahid Jamil Khan submitted that the authority approved a ground-plus-three building plan for the plot.

When the builder started constructing more floors in violation of the plan, the KBCA issued him a demolition notice. The builder, the counsel said, approached the high court and obtained a stay order against the authority behind its back. Under the cover of interim injunction, it continued construction day and night and according to his instructions, borne out by the SHC nazir’s report, the builder had already raised two more storeys in gross violation of the approved plan and building rules and regulations.

Advocate Shahid Jamil Khan said it had become a normal practice for the builders and developers to obtain interim injunctions and then hurriedly raise violative constructions before their expiry to present the KBCA with a ‘fait accompli’.

Justice Khilji Arif Husain restrained the builder and asked both the parties to maintain the status quo till the next date to be fixed by the court’s office.