KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to file details of the properties located within the jurisdiction of the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito also asked the NHA whether any lease is given for filling station/hotel or other activities.

The bench further ordered the SCORE, a private firm that took over the motorway project in 2015 on built-operate-transfer basis, to submit a statement about the charges leveled and total fees earned during last financial year with regard to exit and entry points of different properties situated on the motorway.

The bench was hearing around 70 petitions, filed between 2017 and 2021, which were mostly related to land disputes around the motorway.

SHC asks highway authority whether it had given lease for any fuel station, hotel

The NHA had also petitioned the SHC in 2017 against a move of the Sindh government to reduce the limit of the Right of Way (ROW) and nullify mutation entries on the ground that the same were done in violation of approval of competent authority and no payment was made by NHA.

Dozens of individuals had also approached the court and claimed the ownership of subject land.

The bench heard the matter on Wednesday and stated in its order that the NHA was claiming the ownership of the ROW and mutation in the record in view of Sections 10 to 15 of the NHA Act of 1991, and stated that Sindh had withdrawn a notification and reduced the limit of ROW in provisional legislation in order to oblige commercial activities by different influential persons.

Whereas the other petitioners claimed that the ROW was not applicable on their land and they would abide by the provisional law.

“Accordingly, NHA shall submit details of the properties within the limits of Motorway from Hyderabad to Karachi along with categorical statement whether any lease is given by NHA or SCORE to any petrol pump/hotel or other activities and further NHA shall file categorical statement without going to this controversy with regard to new motorway scheme from Jamshoro to Karachi and in similar like type to Multan to Sukkur Road and Islamabad to Peshawar by providing all basic facilities and state of art road,” the bench in its order said.

While adjourning the hearing till Aug 28, it also asked the SCORE director to file a statement about charges levied and the total fee earned from July 2023 to June 2024 with regard to exit and entry of different properties situated on the motorway.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2024