KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed the provincial culture and heritage authorities to file details of properties which have been removed from the list of heritage buildings since 1996.

The court was hearing a lawsuit filed against the demolition permission order and no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by the then Karachi Building Control Authority in 2004 and culture department in 2021, respectively, for demolition of a building in Civil Lines.

The plaintiffs submitted that the property in question was declared a protected heritage site due to its exceptional artistic and architectural value.

They also submitted that in 2003, an NOC from culture department was obtained about renovation and replacement of doors windows/columns and in 2004 the then KBCA had also illegally issued the permission to raze the property with special conditions.

They stated that TPL Properties Private Limited had purchased the property in 2005 despite knowing its heritage status and thereafter asked the culture department for permission to clean up the exterior and replacement of broken windowpanes.

However, the plaintiffs maintained that in 2008, the culture authorities decided that the existing building structure will not be demolished and the technical committee would supervise the preservation/conservation work of the adoptive re-use process.

They argued that in April 2021, the culture department and the Sindh Building Control Authority had illegally granted a NOC for the demolition the building.

They pleaded to set aside the demolition permission as well as the NOC and sought a restraining order from continuing with any demolition and construction upon the property in question.

Earlier, the SHC had put the culture department, SBCA and others defendants on notice with direction to file comments about the status of the property in question.

At the outset, secretary of the advisory committee of cultural heritage Aleem Lashari turned up and submitted that he needed time to produce a list of all the buildings which have been delisted since 1996 when the first listing of heritage buildings was carried out under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994 along with the orders passed about such delisting.

Adjourning the matter till Oct 9, the bench directed the secretary to file such details within a week.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2023