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KARACHI, July 13: A court-appointed commissioner was not allowed to enter an illegally-constructed seven-storeyed building at Lyari, a division bench of the Sindh High Court was informed on Friday.
The commissioner, Advocate Mansoor Ahmad Khan, said in his report that he went to inspect the building on plot number Ly 61-12, Lyari Quarters, on July 6 in compliance with the court’s order. However, the builder locked the main gate in the presence of a police party and he was not allowed to enter the premises.
The Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) moved an urgent application through Advocate Shahid Jamil Khan saying that the builder had tampered with the seal affixed on the building to prevent further construction and creation of third party interest. The KBCA lodged a criminal complaint with the town police officer of Lyari and station house office (SHO) of the Baghdadi police station but no case was registered against the culprits. The KBCA said all its attempts to demolish the building had been thwarted by the builder and illegal occupants and it could not fulfill its obligation under the law in the absence of police assistance, which was being consistently denied.
Additional Advocate-General Abbas Ali undertook to arrange police assistance. The bench, which consisted of Justices Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Gulzar Ahmed, noted the assurance and adjourned further hearing till July 25. The builder’s counsel, K.A. Wahab, was busy elsewhere.
Sukkur Township
Another division bench comprising Justices Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Khilji Arif Hussain issued notices to the provincial board of revenue and other respondents for July 24 in a petition moved by M/s Arif Builders and Developers, who said they were constructing ‘Sukkur Township’ project at Sukkur in collaboration with M/s Indus Builders and Developers, who purchased 177 acres of land from private owners from 1991 to 2005.
The petitioner submitted through Advocate Rasheed A. Razvi that 3,005 bungalows and 297 flats had already been built and about 90 per cent of them had been booked. The land revenue authorities, however, belatedly took suo motu notice under Section-164 of the Land Revenue Act, 1967, and stayed the construction work.
According to the revenue authorities, the project land was situated within municipal limits and its ownership could not be transferred in perpetuity.
Advocate Razvi said that the land was freehold property and at worst only 32 acres of the 177 acres could be disputed. The revenue authorities, however, tried to stop the entire project and threatened to demolish all construction. They issued no notice to the petitioner. The notice under Section-164 of the 1967 Act was issued on the very day when the high court had allowed a petition by M/s Indus Builders.
Gas station stayed
The bench, meanwhile, stayed the construction of a CNG station on plot number D-186, Block 4, Federal B. Area, till July 26, when a petition moved by a next door resident would come up for hearing. Petitioner Asad Iqbal Butt said that a CNG station was being installed in his immediate neighbourhood without inviting public objections. Appearing for the petitioner, Advocates Farhatullah and Haider Imam Rizvi said that a gas pump could not be allowed in a purely residential area.
Notices in the petition were issued to the federal petroleum ministry, the city government, the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and other respondents for July 26.
