KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed the Karachi commissioner and law enforcement agencies to remove illegal barriers from the streets in the city and submit a detailed report by Feb 24.

A two-judge bench comprising Justices Nadeem Akhtar and Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro also directed the respondent authorities to outline in the report the areas where barricades were built outside the government installations, consulates of different countries and offices of the political parties for security purposes.

The bench was hearing the petition of a civil rights campaigner and secretary general of the Untied Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Rana Faizul Hasan, who had sought removal of barriers installed in various localities.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui appeared on the court’s direction. He told the judges that the barricades were installed outside the sensitive installations, including the consulates of various countries for their security and these barricades did not hinder the movement of citizens.

The petitioner had submitted that barriers were placed across a large number of streets of Karachi restricting freedom of movement of citizens, law-enforcers and emergency workers.

He stated that recently the city witnessed 70 per cent of roads being blocked by placing barriers or other hurdles by residents of areas, including Jamshed Town, Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town, North Nazimabad Town, Korangi Town, where a state within state was created.

He submitted that on the pretext of security measures walls were raised along the streets leading to Bilawal House causing a great deal of inconvenience to the people.

He submitted that several areas/roads of the city had been closed by placing street barriers that caused inconvenience to citizens and restricted their right to free movement.

Besides, he said, armed people had taken positions at the entry/exit points of different areas and they subjected people to questioning before letting them in.

The petitioner stated that despite court orders barriers had not been removed from different areas by the police and Rangers.

He asked the court to direct the respondent authorities to ensure the removal of illegally installed barriers from the streets.

Officials’ slow response on Superhighway tragedy irks SHC

A division bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah gave a last chance to the respondent authorities to submit their replies on the recent Superhighway traffic tragedy that claimed over 60 lives.

The bench expressed displeasure over the failure of the respondent authorities in furnishing their respective replies on the matter and put off the hearing to Feb 17.

SHC Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar initially issued the directions to the provincial authorities on a letter addressed to him by the brother of a lawyer who was among the accident victims. He had converted the letter into a petition.

Khalid H. Abbasi wrote to the chief justice that his brother, Advocate Mohammed Yasin Ahmeddin, and his family were also travelling in the bus and their bodies were lying at the Edhi morgue at Sohrab Goth.

He said there were fire tenders of Pakistan Steel Mills near the place of the accident but the PSM administration declined to give any assistance.

Mr Abbasi said there was an acute shortage of fire tenders and the laws in this regard were not updated by the provincial government.

He said the fire station at the nearby Cattle Colony (Bhains Colonly) remained open from 9am to 5pm.

The victim lawyer’s brother asked the court to order a judicial enquiry into the matter and take action against the officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and others for their grave negligence.

He submitted that the victims’ families were waiting for the bodies of their near and dear ones, but the matter was being delayed due to the DNA test of the victims.

The petitioner also asked the court to direct the officials of the NHA, the provincial government and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to explain as to why the tragic incident occurred and no measures were taken to save the victims. He also requested the SHC to order the authorities concerned to pay a reasonable compensation to the victims’ families.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2015

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