December 04, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 5, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 3: The Sindh High Court directed the city district government on Wednesday to charge the initial allotment price of a plot leased out by the defunct Karachi Development Authority to a college teacher without recovering any surcharge.

Petitioner Tariq A. Kaleem, principal of the DHA Business College, submitted through Advocate Fiaz H. Shah that he purchased a plot from the KDA, since defunct and merged into the CDGK, and paid it Rs486,000, which amounted to 50 per cent of the occupancy value. He was issued an allotment letter. Lease was to be executed on payment of the remaining half of the occupancy value.

However, when the petitioner approached the KDA wing of the CDGK to pay the balance of Rs486,000, he was told he also had to pay a surcharge of Rs300,000 along with the second instalment of the occupancy value in order to have a lease executed in his name. He said the demand was unlawful and in violation of the agreement. He sought a direction to the CDGK to issue him a demand note for Rs486,000 and accept the payment in full discharge of his liability.

Allowing the petition, a division bench comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Khalid Ali Z. Qazi asked the CDGK to issue the demand note and accept payment by pay order to be sent by the petitioner through a courier service.

Date of birth

Another division bench consisting of Justices Khilji Arif Hussain and Ghulam Dastgir A. Shahani adjourned the hearing of a professor’s plea for correction of his date of birth and extension of his retirement date from 2007 to 2011.

Petitioner Zufikar Ahmad Khan, who joined the provincial education and literacy department as associate professor in grade 19 in 1975, submitted that his date of birth was incorrectly mentioned as July 1, 1947, in his matriculation certificate. In fact, his date of birth was July 1, 1951. He applied to the directorate of schools, Hyderabad region, for correction. He also applied to the services and general administration department within two years of his joining service as required by Rule 171 of the Sindh Civil Servants Rules. However, the date was not changed and he was retired in 2007 on attaining the age of 60.

Contesting the petition, Assistant Advocate-General Adnan Karim Memon maintained that the petitioner never applied for correction of his date of birth within two years of his joining service. If his claim that his actual date of birth was July 1, 1951, his age at the time of doing his matriculation in 1964 would not exceed 13 years and four months, which could not be possible.

Further hearing was adjourned to a date in office.

FIA probe ordered

Justice Munib Ahmed Khan, meanwhile, directed the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate an allegation by petitioner Almas Noor that certain documents were forged to deprive her of her inheritance.