January 21, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 20, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 20: The Sindh High Court took a serious view of misappropriation of an entire road in the PECHS by the land mafia and asked the civic agencies to explain their position.

Petitioner Jamila Ehtesham and other residents alleged in their petition that a 40-feet road between two rows of houses in Block 6 of the Pakistan Employees Co-operative Housing Society was illegally occupied and given to squatters, who built small huts. Small plots were later carved out of the encroached area. Houses built on the road were later sold to purchasers.

The petitioners said the illegal ‘housing colony’, comprising over 150 houses, had blocked access to their own residences and they had to park their cars at a considerable distance and walk their way to their houses. They requested the court to order removal of encroachments and demolition of illegal structures.

Advocate Shahid Jamil Khan submitted on behalf the Karachi Building Authority that the removal of road and pavement encroachments did not fall within the purview of the authority but it was ready to render all assistance to the civic agencies concerned.

According to the PECHS map available with the KBCA, the area alleged to have been encroached was a road.

Advocate Manzoor Ahmed submitted on behalf of the city district government that under the relevant provisions of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, the maintenance of roads and removal of encroachments was primarily a concern of the respective town authorities and the city district government could provide help at the request of town nazims. The encroached road fell in the jurisdiction of Jamshed Town, which had not been put on notice.

Expressing grave concern, a division bench, comprising Justices Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery and Maqbool Baqar, issued a notice to the Jamshed Town nazim for Jan 26 and asked the CDGK and the KBCA to remain associated with the proceedings.

Earlier in the day, the bench issued a bailable warrant for the arrest of the Clifton Cantonment Board executive officer, who failed to turn in response to a show-cause notice for contempt. The warrant was later recalled at the request of the respondent board’ counsel. The executive officer appeared soon afterward and apologized to the court.

The bench asked the executive officer to file his reply to the show cause notice and also produce the record pertaining to the allegedly violative multi-storeyed structure on two plots in Delhi Colony, Clifton Cantonment. The Hearing was adjourned to Feb 16.

Whereabouts: A Sindh High Court division bench again asked the interior secretary to submit an affidavit in respect of the whereabouts of Arif Qasmani, a city businessman.

A petition moved by Arif’s wife, Javeria, through Advocate Nehal Hashmi came up before a division bench, comprising Justices Zia Pervez and Sajjad Ali Shah and Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan, submitted that the alleged detainee left Karachi for Lahore on Nov 29, 2005. Federal government counsel Mahmood A. Rizvi said the petition had become infructuous as the alleged detainee was no longer within the SHC territorial jurisdiction.

The bench asked the AAG to submit the relevant passengers’ manifest and the federal attorney and the interior secretary’s affidavit and adjourned the case.

Meanwhile, another division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Sain Ali Din Metlo, asked the provincial home department and the Central Prison authorities to file affidavits explaining circumstances in which fruit merchant Syed Zahid Ali was handed to the Punjab police after grant of bail by the Sindh High Court.

Advocates Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan and Dilawar Hussain termed the jail superintendent’s statement contradictory. On the one hand, he claimed to have freed Zahid as directed, on the other he stated that the detainee was handed to the Punjab police, which wanted his arrest in three cases.

Billboard incident: Justice Qaiser Iqbal of the Sindh High Court has decreed the entire claim of the parents of a 13-year-old boy who died when a billboard hit him in Federal ‘B’ Area in January 1998.

The mishap occurred on the ground floor of Rahimabad flats, Block 14, FB Area. The plaintiffs said a billboard was loosely hung by a travel agency and it fell on Kashif Usman Hamid while he was passing under it.

The plaintiffs submitted through Advocate Nasir Maqsood that the boy fell victim to the negligence of the defendant agency and its owners. They demanded a sum of Rs 3.5 million as damages for the losses suffered by them on various counts.

Observing that the defendants have failed to discharge their burden by staying away from the proceedings, the judge decreed the entire claim together with mark-up at the rate of 6 per cent.