KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Sindh High Court to dispose of within three months the petitions seeking rehabilitation and payment of compensation to the affected persons of the Lyari Expressway project.

An apex court bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam also directed the SHC to ensure the payment of the compensation to the petitioner affectees.

The bench was seized with the hearing of a plea of a resident of Liaquatabad, Abdul Ghani, who complained that he was not being paid the due payment of compensation.

His counsel, advocate Shaukat Ali Sheikh, told the judges that the authorities concerned were only using delaying tactics in payment of the compensation to the affected people.

He submitted that the referee judge of the SHC had enhanced the compensatory amount of Rs6,000 per square-foot to Rs13,000 in one of the categories of the properties, while in the other category the amount was raised to Rs38,000 per square-foot from Rs13,000.

The counsel recalled that the respondent deputy commissioners had also given undertaking to comply with the court’s order while assessing the value of properties.

However, he complained, the SHC referee judge’s orders were not complied with.

The counsel informed the judges that the local government secretary had challenged the SHC referee judge’s orders.

Encroachment case

Another SC bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed ordered the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s director of master plan to appear in court with the master plan of PECH Society on the next date of hearing.

The court was hearing an application of PECHS against encroachments on a major drain in the locality.

The bench that also comprised Justice Maqbool Baqar expressed extreme displeasure over the KMC officials who failed to answer the judges’ queries.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2017