KARACHI: Court seeks plan to demolish illegal buildings
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 8: The Sindh High Court asked the chief controller of buildings and the inspector-general of police on Wednesday to work out an action plan to evacuate and demolish all unauthorized buildings as ordered by it in 1998 and report compliance within two months.
The order was passed by a division bench, comprising Justices Mushir Alam and Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, on a contempt application moved in the 1998 petition through Advocate Naeemur Rehman.
The applicants alleged that a comprehensive order passed on Feb 27, 1998, by a division bench consisting of the then SHC chief justice, Wajihuddin Ahmed, and Justice M. Roshan Essani, had not been complied with by the Karachi Building Control Authority. The petitioners had submitted a list of 35 buildings in Garden East and West, Soldier Bazaar and Jamshed Quarters but the court directed the KBCA to enforce its judgment all over the city.
The IGP, the district magistrates, the divisional commissioner and all the public utilities were told to assist the KBCA in carrying out the demolition operations. No third party interests were to be created.
The bench summoned the chief controller of buildings, Mumtazur Rehman Khan, to answer the allegation that the KBCA had failed to comply with the 1998 court order.
The chief controller appeared in person and claimed that the KBCA had made efforts to implement the court order but the main obstacle was that it did not receive co-operation from the police, the administration and the public utilities.
Most of the unauthorized buildings had been completed before the filing of the petition in the late 1990s. The then SHC nazir’s report confirmed the position. In fact, the CCOB said, the buildings had already been occupied and were sanctioned electricity, gas, water and phone connections before the order was passed. Yet the KBCA made genuine efforts to ensure compliance and wrote to all the agencies concerned.
Additional Advocate-General Rafiq Rajouri assured the bench that police help would be provided to the KBCA whenever required.
