KARACHI, Nov 23: A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab allowed appeals by a Shaheed-i-Millat Road plot owner and the CDGK against an interim order passed by a single judge in a suit to restrain the owner from seeking and the CDGK from sanctioning commercialisation of the plot.

Several residents of the neighborhood instituted a suit against the plot owner and the CDGK against commercialisation of the plot despite notification of the Shaheed-i-Millat Road as a commercial lane by the provincial government along with other roads, including Sharea Faisal and Tariq Road. Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui granted an injunction in favour of the plaintiffs and the owner and the CDGK preferred an appeal against the interim order through advocates Abid S. Zuberi and Manzoor Ahmed. The plaintiff respondents, who also challenged the validity of CDGK bye-laws, were represented by advocate Rizwana Ismail.

The bench passed a consent order setting aside the impugned injunction to the extent that the CDGK would process the plot owner’s application for commercialisation and would decide the matter after hearing the plaintiff respondents. The question of the validity of the impugned rules in the pending suit could, meanwhile, be decided by the single judge without recording evidence.

STAY EXTENDED: The same bench extended a stay in favour of a madressah and mazar in PIB Colony threatened by the Lyari Expressway Project. Advocate Shaukat Ali Shaikh submitted that the mazar was constructed in 1969 after obtaining permission from the then deputy commissioner as provided by the law. Asked about the CDGK offer of an alternative site for the madressah, the counsel said it also housed a mosque, which could not be shifted. He maintained that the petitioner’s grievance was against the National Highway Authority and the CDGK was misleading the court. The bench adjourned the hearing to December 6.