HYDERABAD: The Mirpurkhas circuit bench of the Sindh High Court has reaffirmed that entire Karoonjhar mountain range in Tharparkar is a protected heritage under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994, and any violation thereof, “shall be treated as a violation of the orders of the court”.

The division bench comprising Justices Adnanul Karim Memon and Amjad Ali Bohio passed the order the other day while disposing of a contempt of court plea filed by Shankar Meghwar advocate over violation of SHC Hyderabad circuit’s detailed order issued on Oct 16, 2023.

The Mirpurkhas SHC bench had taken up the contempt plea and issued notices to contemnors including Chief Secretary of Sindh and Sindh Secretary for Culture and Tourism.

Assistant Advocate General Ayaz Rajpar referred to minutes of Sindh cabinet’s meeting held on Sept 14, mentioning that the cabinet endorsed recommendations of Technical Committee and Advisory Committee declaring the entire Karoonjhar mountain range as protected heritage under Sindh Cultural Heritage, (Preservation) Act, 1994. It directed administrative department to notify the same accordingly without waiting for issuance of minutes, he said.

He said the cabinet was cognizant of historical, archaeological, heritage and cultural importance of the entire Karoonjhar range (comprising more or less 109 hills). However, the technical committee had not mentioned exact coordinates and surface area in the light of court orders. The culture department was therefore directed to place the matter before the committee, he said.

He quoted from the Sept 20 notification of culture department, which said Karoonjhar mountain in Tharparkar comprised 21,000 acres and was to be protected heritage within the meaning of the said Act. “Any intentional act to destroy, alter, deface, and imperil the Protected Heritage or to build on or near the sites will be unlawful and punishable under Section 18 of the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994,” he said.

Meghwar, who pled his own petition, said that Karoonjhar was required to be declared as one monument under the law that could not be divided into pieces and portions to make some part of it (range) available for excavation, which was prohibited under the Sept 20 notification which said the Karoonjhar mountain comprised 21,000 acres.

He said that it was not correct position of the area as portrayed by the respondents’ department and explained that Kharsar was not separate from Karoonjhar and was connected with it.

The AAG argued that according to minutes of the cabinet meeting held on Sept 14 entire Karoonjhar mountain range had been declared as protected heritage.

The court observed: “If this is the position of the case, contempt application is no longer enforceable as Sindh Culture, Tourism, Antiquities, and Archives department has issued Sept 20 notification and declared entire Karoonjhar mountain to be a protected heritage within the meaning of Act 1994”.

The court ruled: “It is made clear entire Karoonjhar Mountain Range [Tharparkar] is now a protected heritage within the meaning of Act 1994 and any violation thereof, shall be treated as a violation of the orders of the court, which shall be dealt with in terms of Article 204 of Constitution”.

Earlier, a division bench of the Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit had handed down a landmark judgement on the preservation of Karoonjhar hills in October 2023, calling for its protection in conformity with international guidelines.

The SHC ruled that the “entire range of Karoonjhar Hill is one monument” under the law and it could not be divided into pieces and portions to make some part of the range available for excavation.

The provincial mines and mineral department did not t have jurisdiction over the hills “since it is a protected heritage site” and not available for mining or excavation, it said.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2024