KARACHI, Dec 18: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday stayed the demolition of a structure allegedly raised in violation of building regulations.
The builder, Abdul Razak Khamosh, said in his petition that he constructed a building consisting of shops and apartments on a 4,000-square-yard commercial plot in Block 10-A of Gulshan-i-Iqbal. He had a building plan of four floors in addition to the basement, ground floor and a loft.
The plan was approved by the Karachi Building Control Authority and the Faisal Cantonment Board as it partly fell within the latter’s jurisdiction. However, he constructed eight instead of four floors along with a penthouse and submitted regularization plans to the authority and the board. While there was no response from the KBCA, the cantonment board told him that his regularization plan and application were being processed.
The KBCA, instead of considering his regularization plea, issued him a demolition notice. He prayed through advocate Mansurul Arifin that the KBCA be asked to withdraw the demolition notice and decide his plea for regularization. Pending the hearing of his petition, the notice should be suspended. Issuing a notice to the KBCA, a division bench comprising Justices Yasmin Abbasy and Mahmood Alam Rizvi restrained it from demolishing the building till the next date of hearing in January, 2008.
The plot, according to the KBCA, was a matter of dispute and over 15 cases relating to its ownership were pending in the courts. It was allotted by the Karachi Development Authority to the Pakistan Railways for amenity purposes. Besides four additional floors, the builder has encroached upon the cut-line.
Eviction stayed
Another division bench consisting of Chief Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Justice Qamaruddin Bohra, meanwhile, restrained the railway authorities from evicting Lt-Col Hafeezullah Khan from a bungalow on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road in Karachi Cantonment.
The petitioner submitted through advocate Mohammad Nawaz Shaikh that he was deputed to work as joint director, vigilance cell, Pakistan Railways, for two years in Oct 2005 and was posted in Karachi. The railways allotted him a bungalow for his residence as joint director. He was recalled by the Pakistan Army recently and the Railways served him a notice to vacate the bungalow.
The petitioner said under the Accommodation Allocation Rules, 2000, he was entitled to retain possession of the bungalow till the army allotted him a new accommodation. Issuing a notice to the respondent railways, the bench asked it to maintain the status quo till the next date of hearing to be fixed by the office.
Meanwhile, advocates Fareed Ahmed A. Dayo and Halima Khan have assumed charge as additional advocates-general. The vacancies were caused by the elevation of Dr Khalid Ali Z. Qazi and another law officer.
Oct 18 case hearing adjourned
Justice Agha Rafique Ahmed Khan of the SHC on Tuesday denied the hearing of the petition filed by the state against the orders of the district and sessions judge (East) pertaining to lodging an FIR of the Oct 18, 2007, twin blasts case on behalf of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
Justice Agha Rafique Ahmed observed that the application was filed against his own passed orders, and directed not to fix the case before him.
However, the SHC had earlier granted an interim stay to the petitioner. Benazir Bhutto’s counsel Farooq H. Naek was also not present on Tuesday.
The ADJ (East) had on Nov 5, 2007, passed the orders directing the SHO of Bahadurabad police station to lodge an FIR of the twin blasts on behalf of the PPP on the application filed by party leader Qaim Ali Shah.
Being dissatisfied with the court orders passed by the ADJ (East), the state, through the advocate general Sindh, moved the SHC submitting that the FIR of the blasts had already been registered on behalf of state (FIR No 183/2007).