KARACHI: Status quo in SZABIST land case extended
KARACHI, Nov 14: The Sindh High Court extended the status quo order made by it in the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology petition against the Sindh government over the price of land allotted to it and adjourned hearing of the matter to Nov 20.
The institute has challenged, through Advocate Syed Iqbal Haider, a notice issued by the Sindh land utilization department in October asking it to pay the balance of the price of the 300 acres allotted to it in the Bin Qasim town in mid-nineties. The notice claimed that the market price of the land was Rs 300,000 per acre while it was allotted at a price of Rs 15,000 per acre by the then PPP provincial government. It asked the institute to pay the balance price of Rs 85,500,000 or face cancellation of the allotment.
Citing the Sindh chief secretary, the land utilization secretary and the Bin Qasim town as respondents, the petitioner institute said the transaction had already been finalized and it could not be reopened. A sum of Rs 4,500,000 was paid as full and final payment of the price besides other dues. All that was required to be done was execution and registration of a lease deed by the respondents.
It requested the court to declare the impugned notice unlawful, permanently restraining the respondents from cancelling the allotment or charge extra price and direct them to execute the lease deed. Pending the proceedings, it sought an interim injunction against the respondents.
As the petition came up for hearing on Friday, Advocate Iqbal Haider submitted that the institute was a centre of excellence and compared favourably with other institutions of science and technology in South Asia. It would be unfair to reopen a past transaction and burden the institute with heavy financial expenditure on account of the price of land already paid by it.
Extending the interim stay order granted by it, a division bench, comprising Justices Sabihuddin Ahmed and Amir Hani Muslim, adjourned the hearing of the petition till Nov 20 owing to the paucity of time.