HYDERABAD: A civil court judge ordered the Hyderabad deputy commissioner (DC) on Tuesday to de-seal forthwith the shop located on the premises of a heritage building of the Jamia Arabia government school on Tilak incline, and allowed plaintiffs (shop owner) to resume their business there.

The order was passed on a first class suit filed by Mohammad Furqan and Waseemuddin, plaintiffs. They had challenged the sealing of their shop under the orders of the Hyderabad DC through the city assistant commissioner (AC).

The court noted that the counsel for the plaintiffs requested for grant of an interim injunction not to create a third party interest in the suit property. He requested for de-sealing of the shop sealed by the official defendants.

The counsel for the plaintiffs filed statement that not only shop might be de-sealed, but they might be also allowed to run legal trade i.e., hotel in the shop and any kind of encroachment on street or any kind of signboard, which was against law, might be removed by the authorities as per scheme of law.

City AC Ashraf Sangri appeared, along with Mukhtiarkar, filed statement, saying that the shop might be de-sealed, but the plaintiffs might be restrained not to encroach space and put chairs and tables in the street or at the public property. The AC requested that time might be granted to approach to the heritage department and produce law regarding hotels that could not be opened near vicinity of schools.

The court observed that without discussing merits of the case, it was still not out of context to note that a notice under Section 3 of the Sindh Removal of Encroachment Act was not issued by the DC and without issuing the notice, he had sealed the shop.

The order said it was settled law that anything shall be done according to law; therefore, the DC had failed to follow the law and straight forward sealed the shop without following the procedure as per law. It said that in view of the above undertakings of both parties, the court granted two-day time to the defendants to assist the court and produce relevant law about opening of hotels near school vicinity.

Meanwhile, said the court, as per the undertaking of the defendants, the subject suit property i.e., shop was de-sealed and plaintiffs were at liberty to do lawful trade within the premises of the shop. Restraining the plaintiffs from encroaching upon any kind of public property, the court warned that if any encroachment was found on public property, the defendants would remove it through due process of law.

The plaintiffs had filed the suit before the court, citing the revenue department, the Hyderabad DC, city AC and sub registrar, Syed Mohammad Ali Kazmi, Saleem Hussain Vohra, Ikramuddin Guddo and Sadiq Sheikh as defendants. The plaintiffs said they had purchased a shop admeasuring 26 square yards situated at Ward-A Tilak incline from Syed Iqbal Ali and others vide sale deed dated Sept 13, 2022.

They said they had started business of a hotel and biryani whereupon the private defendant-6, Syed Mohammad Ali Kazmi, got annoyed and started threatening the plaintiffs to close business. The plaintiffs argued that if their shop was the property of the school, how revenue officials issued sale deed and put names of the plaintiffs on record, which clearly demonstrated that the shop was a private property and rightly purchased by the plaintiffs. The defendants had no reasons to challenge their legal right, they added.

If the defendant-6 or school management had title document or record, they could have moved civil court, but they never approached court for declaration and possession. They continued applying illegal methods to gain sympathy and taking illegal actions against the plaintiff before the revenue authorities, they added.

They argued that the school management or the defendant-6 lacked the title documents or record of shop/property of the plaintiffs due to which they were not approaching the civil court for redressing grievances and were only degrading and causing hurdles in the business of the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs prayed the court to grant permanent injunction against the defendants.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2023