KARACHI, Sept 18: The Sindh High Court summoned the high-ups of the city district government, the Sindh Police, the board of revenue, the Karachi Building Control Authority, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, the Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation and the Southern Sui Gas Pipeline Company Limited to appear on Sept 25 to find a solution to the worsening problem caused by illegal and unauthorised construction of residential and commercial plazas.
A division bench comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Rana Mohammad Shamim was informed the KBCA could not check illegal and unauthorized constructions without the co-operation and assistance of the police force, the public utilities and the registrar of properties. While the authority was primarily responsible for preventing violation of building rules, other agencies could not be absolved of their obligation to ensure adherence to the law and rules, KBCA counsel Shahid Jamil Khan submitted.
He said once the utilities, particularly the KESC, the KWSB and the SSGPL, sanctioned connections to the unauthorized structures, they were free to be occupied by innocent purchasers. The registrar of properties registered sub-leases without requiring the lessor to produce the completion or occupancy or no-objection certificate and other documents.
It was impossible to evict the occupants of an offending structure without police assistance, which was seldom provided. The utilities not only sanctioned connections but also refused to sever them if a request was to them in this behalf. If all the agencies were equally vigilant, the menace of mushroom growth of illegal buildings could be effectively curbed, the KBCA counsel said.
Enforcement panel
The KBCA, the counsel informed the bench, has, however, constituted a seven-member executive committee to control and oversee to entertain complaints in compliance of an SHC order so that the complainants do not have to rush to the courts for redress of grievances. To be headed by chief buildings controller Manzoor Qadir, it has as its members three controllers of buildings, one deputy controller, one town controller and the KBCA counsel, who will also be the committee’s secretary. The committee will control and oversee the KBCA affairs, including implementation of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979, and Karachi Building and Town Planning, 2002, and of court orders.
The committee has been set up under Section 10-A of the SBCO by Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Khan Durrani in his capacity as ‘authority’. Its terms of reference have also been notified and it has been empowered to entertain and redress complaints.
The proceedings were prompted by a petition seeking demolition of an illegal structure in Lyari. A resident complained that a builder has raised ground-plus-six-floor building against a sanctioned plan for ground plus two storeys. The court passed a demolition order but the KBCA expressed its inability to comply in the absence of assistance from the police force and co-operation from the utilities. It said all but the sixth floor of the building had already been occupied.
The bench ordered the attachment of the sixth floor so that no third party interest was created by the builder. The stations house officer was asked to ensure that the seal of attachment affixed by the court nazir was not removed. The hearing was adjourned to Sept 25.
Notice to banks
Another division bench consisting of Justices Khilji Arif Hussain and Bin Yamin issued notices to a commercial bank, the State Bank of Pakistan and the SHO of Preedy in a petition against lifting by the respondent creditor bank of a customer’s car from a public parking lot without notice.
Petitioner Allah Bachayo Memon submitted through Advocate Mohammad Jameel that he bought a car with credit obtained from the respondent bank. He paid all the dues and delivered 60 post-dated cheques covering the entire cost of car finance. His cheques were being regularly encashed by the bank every month and no cheque was ever dishonoured. Yet the bank’s recovery officer lifted his car from the public parking lot near the passport office in Saddar without any intimation or notice. He lodged a complaint at the Preedy police station but the SHO declined to register an FIR.
The bench ordered that notices be issued to the respondent bank, the SBP and the SHO for October 9.
Demolition stayed
The bench comprising Justices Munib A. Khan and Rana M. Shamim, meanwhile, issued notices to the town nazim of Gulshan-i-Iqbal in a petition moved by a petrol pump and service station in Block 6. Advocate Syed Masroor Alvi contended on behalf of the petitioner that the municipal authorities were out to demolish it because in their view it was causing traffic problems. The lawyer said the service station had a valid lease till 2028 and could not be prematurely evicted from the land. It was entitled to run its business till the termination of the lease, which could be extended.