January 17, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 07, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 16: Except for cantonments and the Defence Housing Society, building plans for any part of the city are to be sanctioned by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) irrespective of the ownership of the land, a Sindh High Court judgment says.

The ruling, by a division bench comprising Justices Mrs Qaiser Iqbal and Bin Yamin, came on a petition moved by the lessee of Pakistan Railways’ land. He said he was the lawful occupant of a 500-yard plot situated at the Gulbai level crossing on Mauripur-Hawksbay Road. The commercial plot was leased out to him by Pakistan Railways, the lawful owner of the land, for setting up a weigh-bridge. He raised a small structure along with a platform to install a weighing machine, in accordance with the construction design approved by the railway authorities.

Following complaints received by it, the KBCA issued the lessee a notice for the demolition of the illegal structure as it had been raised without any approval by the KBCA as required by the law. Aggrieved by the notice, the lessee approached the high court for a restraint order. He said that since the land belonged to the railways and the lessor had sanctioned the plan, the KBCA had no role to play in the matter.

Relying on the provisions of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance and the Karachi Building & Town Planning Regulations, KBCA counsel Shahid Jamil Khan argued that the authority was empowered to enforce construction rules everywhere in Karachi, except in the cantonment and Defence areas. The mere fact that a piece of land was owned by the railways, an industrial estate or any other organisation or a housing society could not exclude it from the purview of the KBCA or the enforcement of the building code. The KBCA had no option but to demolish the unlawful structure and the position was fully explained to the petitioner, yet he chose to invoke the court’s writ jurisdiction.

The bench upheld the KBCA power and allowed the authority to demolish the structure. The petitioner was asked to pay costs amounting to Rs10,000.

Non-compliance of court orders

Meanwhile another bench, comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Syed Pir Ali Shah, directed the chief controller of building and the town police officer of Saddar to appear on January 24 to explain why its order for the partial demolition of a building had not been complied by.

On a petition moved by the non-governmental organisation Karachi Helpline, through advocate Abdul Jabbar Korai, the court had ordered on September 29, 2006, that the offending portions of the building constructed on plot GK-7/100, Jilani Centre, Merewhether Tower, Saddar, should be demolished with police assistance in order to restore car parking.

The petitioner complained on Wednesday that the order had not been complied by despite the lapse of about three months. The complaint was authenticated by the court nazir, who inspected the site.

The bench also ordered the sealing of a structure raised on plot No. 1594, Lane B/2, near Madina Masjid Road, Khadda Market, Lyari Town. Petitioner Haji Mohammed Khan had complained that a five-storey building had been raised against a sanction of ground-plus-one floors. The construction work was in progress despite a court stay order. The bench asked the Lyari police to seal the site immediately and adjourned further hearings.

Notice issued to EC

Another bench comprised of Justices Yasmin Abbasy and Farrukh Zia G. Shaikh issued notices to the election authorities for January 24 in a petition alleging the omission of 552 voters from the voters’ list of provincial constituency PS-24, Nawabshah.

PPP candidate Tariq Masood Arain submitted through advocate Adnan Karim that the ‘missing’ votes were mentioned in the preliminary list but had been dropped from the final list. He approached the Election Commission under the Electoral Rolls Act but was unable to elicit a satisfactory reply.

Judge’s plea for allowance

Yet another division bench comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Khwaja Naveed Ahmed allowed the adjournment of a petition moved by district and sessions judge Bin Yamin, who has since been elevated to the high court, for the grant of additional allowance for additional charge. Representing the federal ministry of law and justice, Deputy Attorney-General Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui sought time for filing para-wise comments; the bench allowed the request.

The petitioner judge says that he held the charge of controlling officer of the environmental protection tribunal from July 13, 2006, to February 27, 2007, while he was posted as a special judge for the control of narcotic substances. An allowance at the rate of 20 per cent of pay was paid to his predecessor, Syed Ikram Hussain Jaffri, and the non-payment of the allowance was arbitrary and discriminatory. Responding to a query by the bench, the DAG submitted that he would try to help resolve the matter in a satisfactory manner in accordance with the law and rules.

Person ‘missing’ since Nov 3

The bench asked Advocate-General Dr Farogh Naseem to help ascertain the whereabouts of a person who allegedly disappeared on Nov 3. Petitioner Abdus Samad stated that his nephew Ikramullah was picked up from his Hasrat Mohani Colony residence by about 20 people who apparently belonged to some law enforcement agency. It was submitted on behalf of the police and Rangers that they had nothing to do with the alleged arrest or detention. The bench asked the AG to help trace Ikramullah.

AG summoned

A division bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, on Wednesday summoned the advocate-general of Sindh on Jan 25 in a constitution petition filed by Salman Adil Siddiqui and 48 other candidates for the posts of lecturers, adds APP.

The bench expressed displeasure over the non-implementation of an SHC judgment delivered by former Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab in a case of appointment of lecturers tested, selected and recommended by the Sindh Public Service Commission which ordered the Sindh education department to issue appointment letters to them.

The petitioners maintain that they had applied for the posts in June 2005 after the Sindh education department advertised vacancies. They stated that the process was completed in June 2006, when the SPSC recommended their names to the government for the issuance of offer letters.

As the order was not implemented, the petitioners moved the court again on Wednesday. The bench expressed annoyance over the unexplained delay and directed the AG to appear in person on the next date of hearing (Jan 25).

The Sindh education department had announced 741 vacancies but later withdrew 650 posts after the recommendation for appointment of 91 lecturers by the SPSC.

Daniel Pearl case

An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Justices Qaiser Iqbal and Syed Mahmood Alam Rizvi, on Wednesday adjourned indefinitely the hearing of three appeals, one each by two accused and one by the state, in the kidnapping and murder case of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist.

One of the appeals was filed by Ahmed Omar Shaikh, challenging the death sentence awarded to him by ATC-V for the Karachi division. The second appeal was filed by co-accused Fahad Naseem, Salman Saquib and Adil Shaikh, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.

The third appeal was filed by the state through the Advocate-General of Sindh (AGS), seeking enhancement of the sentence (from life imprisonment to death sentence).

The adjournment was prompted by the absence of Special Public Prosecutor Raja Qureshi, who was on general adjournment till Feb 1. The bench put off the hearing of appeals to a date to be fixed later by the office of the court.

According to the prosecution, Ahmad Omar Shaikh abducted Daniel Pearl from outside the Metropole hotel in January 2002. The kidnapped journalist was later slaughtered by the unidentified accused as shown in a video provided to a local television channel.