KARACHI, April 20: The Sindh High Court gave the police six months to vacate unlawful possession of a 1000-square-yard plot in Baloch Colony and hand it over to its rightful owner.

Petitioner Abdul Ahad Agha submitted through Advocate Fiaz H. Shah that his plot (No.73-B) in Block 6, PECHS was occupied by the police in 1989.

The Baloch Colony police station was set up on his property. Whenever he pressed for its vacation and restoration of his ownership and possession, he was harassed.

TPO Jamshed Asif Ijaz Shaikh, SHO Liaquat Khan of the Baloch Colony police station and DSP Anwar appeared in response to a court notice and conceded that the plot was illegally occupied. They sought time for vacating the premises. Advocate Shah demanded that the owner should be paid rent by the police.

Justice Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, who heard the petition, gave the respondents six months to find an alternative site for the police station and hand over the premises to the owner. The EDO concerned was also directed to help the police acquire an alternative site.

ENCROACHMENTS: A division bench comprising Justices Amir Hani Muslim and Mrs Yasmin Abbasy, meanwhile, directed the Malir Town municipal administration to clear a 20-feet Model Colony road of encroachments. The municipal officer was asked to submit a compliance report on April 25.

Abdul Hafeez Qaimkhani and two other petitioners submitted that 10 feet of the space in front of their residential plots had been encroached upon and the municipal administration had been doing nothing to remove the encroachments. Advocate Minhaj Farooqui submitted maps on behalf of one of the petitioners to show the dimensions of the road.

City district government counsel Manzoor Ahmed assured the court that all encroachments would be removed at the earliest.