HYDERABAD, May 25: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, has directed Sindh Additional Attorney General to seek instructions from the provincial home department and other authorities concerned whether the district Nazim or the DPO could assist the building control department and the HDA to demolish the unauthorized construction of Fareed Elahi Housing Scheme.

The order was passed here the other day by the bench on a contempt of court application, filed against the HDA and building department officials by Nadir Hassan.

The petitioner had claimed that the housing scheme had been launched by the respondent proprietor of the scheme without taking NOC from the department concerned, on the plot where he was also residing with his family.

The court also issued notice to the superintendent engineer and executive engineer of Wapda to file comments after petitioner’s counsel Hassan Mehmood Baig informed the court that the Wapda authorities were also erecting polls on the land.

The court also bound down building control director Syed Nadeem Rizwan to be present in the court on the next date of hearing to inform about the progress made in the matter.

Rizwan was also directed to visit the site and submit his report in three weeks about the construction activities on the land in question with the sketch showing the exact and existing position of construction.

The petitioner, resident of revenue survey no 79 (Paretabad, Phuleli), claimed that adjoining to his house, Haji Gulshan-i- Elahi sponsored the Fareed Elahi Housing Scheme on 32 acres without obtaining NOC and approval of layout plan and added that plots of the site were already being offered for sale.

He said this was in violation of section 5 of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance (SBCO) of 1979.

He said the builder also violated section 6 of the SBCO but the HDA and the building control department officials did not take any notice of these illegalities.

He prayed the court to direct the HDA and the building control department officials to seal the buildings and demolish the same.

The petition was followed by a contempt of court application after two separate orders (May 3 and Sept 13, 2000), containing directives to demolish the unauthorized construction on the plots, were not complied with by respondents.

The petition was disposed of after the director of the building control informed the court of having addressed a communication to the then deputy commissioner for removal of the unauthorized construction.

On May 22, Afaque Ahmed, who claimed to be the proprietor of the housing scheme, filed an application saying that the May 3 decision was obtained by the petitioner through misrepresentation of facts and fraud.

The court disposed of the application on Sept 13, 2000, with directives to the then deputy commissioner to remove the unauthorized persons from survey no 79 and others.

The counsel claimed in the contempt of court application that after lapse of one year, no action had been taken by the contemner, director of the building control department, though the petitioner approached him time and again.

Advocate Rafiq Ahmed filed a fresh application on behalf of Afaque Ahmed, stating therein that the petition was filed without impleading the applicant and other lessee and sub-lessee of plots of the survey numbers, mentioned in petition.

He accused the petitioner of having raised unauthorized construction on survey no 79.

He said regularization of the layout plan was under process and added that the petitioner with malafide intention was trying to dispossess the people who had constructed their houses.

The other day, the court was informed by Bahadur Ali Baluch, counsel for alleged contemner, director the building control, that it was not possible for respondents to demolish the work, as directed by the court, without the assistance of police and magistrate under the new system of devolution of power as there was no executive magistrate or authority which could provide assistance of magistrate to respondents.