KARACHI: The occupants of ‘Moon Garden’, an illegally-raised residential plaza in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, have been left with no option but to abandon their abode as the Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the authorities to disconnect all civic utility connections to the project to get it vacated as per court’s earlier order.

The court directed the federal law officer to ensure the placement of builder’s name on the exit control list (ECL) immediately.

While granting an appeal against the order of a single bench, a division bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on Sept 29 had directed the IGP and the Additional IG of Karachi to ensure that ‘Moon Garden’, the project in question, was totally vacated within 30 days.

The litigation over the project was initiated in 2007 by the Pakistan Railway Employees Cooperative Housing Society Limited through a suit that culminated in the rejection of its plea for attachment of the entire project with the direction to the builder not to carry out any further construction.

According to the appellant’s counsel, Advocate Mohammed Vawda, the builder did not comply with the court order and continued construction work compelling the housing society to move another application for appointment of a commissioner to inspect the site in 2011.

Later, he said, on court orders the Nazir (court official) and the commissioner submitted their respective reports on Jan 25, 2014 reflecting that the project was unoccupied.

However, the counsel said, the builder continued to raise illegal floors and handed over possession of some offices, shops and flats to people.

In 2008, a petition was also filed in the SHC against the building control authority and the builder and the court had ordered the attachment of the entire building. The builder moved the Supreme Court against the SHC’s order of attachment.

The apex court discharged the attachment order on an undertaking given by the builder that he would neither raise any further floors, nor would he handover the possession to anybody without obtaining No Objection Certificate from the competent authority.

During the course of litigation, the builder’s counsel had submitted in the court that the people had themselves occupied the project and his client would have no objection if they were evicted from the project.

While granting the appeal, the court had ordered in the judgement: “In the instant case the project has been occupied in blatant violation and utter disobedience of the undertaking/directions of the Apex Court as well as of this court and consequently we see no alternative but to direct its attachment and to further direct the Inspector General of Police as well as Additional Inspector General of Police, Karachi, to ensure that the project is totally vacated within 30 days hereof, whereafter Respondent No. 1 shall seal the subject project forthwith, which would remain attached/sealed till further orders of this court. We are further of the view that all constructions raised by the respondent No. 7 [builder] after injunctive order dated 17-4-2007 has to be removed/dismantled.”

Last week, the bench headed by Justice Shah had issued a show-cause notice to Inspector General of Police Ghulam Hyder Jamali for flouting the court’s order regarding the removal of construction on a project raised in violation of building laws on the land of Pakistan Railway Employees Cooperative Housing Society Ltd.

On Wednesday, IGP appeared in court and filed his reply to the show-cause notice, which was taken on record.

The city police chief submitted the judges that some 100 families were living in the project and the police on Tuesday got 25 flats vacated after giving them due notices.

The court was informed that almost every occupant was given allotment by the builder and it would be difficult for police to comply with the court’s order unless gas, water and power authorities were directed to disconnect amenities.

The court ordered: “In view of the peculiar circumstances, we direct the Respondents [civic utilities] to disconnect gas, electricity and water connections from the project and further observe that in case proper notices are given to the occupants and incase they fail to remove their luggage, it would be suffice to take out their luggage from the flat by allowing them to remove the same without any inventory.”

The bench also issued a show-cause to the builder of the Moon Garden as to why proceedings for breach of the court order should not be initiated against him.

The court also directed the AIGP Karachi to ensure presence of the builder in court on Nov 18, the next date of hearing.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2015