KARACHI, Sept 5: The provincial government is learnt to have been dragging its feet in establishing the anti-encroachment court and tribunal as no accommodation has so far been allotted for the purpose though the Sindh High Court has already notified a judge.

Official sources told Dawn on Thursday that the high court had notified the name of District and Sessions Judge Ahmed Saba as presiding officer of the proposed court and tribunal in compliance with a Supreme Court order issued on April 15 during the hearing of the Karachi unrest case.

Later, they said, a senior member of the Board of Revenue who was also director-general of the board’s anti-encroachment wing requested the chief secretary for allotment of accommodation for the offices of the presiding officer and the anti-encroachment directorate.

The request was forwarded to the general administration secretary on May 2, the sources said, adding that the presiding officer also asked the chief secretary through a letter to expedite his efforts towards allotment of the office accommodation, but to no avail.

They said that the presiding officer informed the SHC about the state of affairs seeking its intervention in getting the accommodation allotted.

The high court has also directed the general administration secretary to make prompt efforts in this regard.