KARACHI, Sept 9: The Sindh High Court asked its nazir on Thursday to visit the Lea Market and KMC Market areas and submit a report on illegal constructions and encroachments there.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Maqbool Baqar on a writ petition moved by two residents of the area, Syed Javed Haider Kazmi and Abdul Latif Channa, to agitate the 'menace of massive encroachments' in the two markets.
They said illegal structures and encroachments had almost blocked the traffic in certain areas and were causing hardship to the residents, customers and passers by. The civic agencies, they stated, had failed to check the public nuisance caused by illegal occupation of the public property.
The bench also directed that photographs of the markets be arranged to help it ascertain the magnitude of encroachments. The provincial local government department secretary was directed to submit the original site plans of the markets to compare the projects as originally conceived with their present state. Both the nazir's inspection report and the site plans were ordered to be submitted by Sept 29, when the petition would again come up for hearing.
NEW KARACHI PARK: The bench also asked the New Karachi police and civic administration to develop and preserve a public amenity plot as a park in union council eight of the town.
Petitioner Maqbool Begum submitted through Advocate Irfan Ahmed that a plot reserved for a park in front of her house in the union council was not being developed as an amenity plot and was being allowed to be used by drug addicts and others for their anti-social and unlawful activities.
A town police official assured the bench that the provincial ombudsman's order in respect of the amenity plots would be fully implemented. The police would ensure that the plot was not used for illegal activities and that no hurdle was placed by anybody in its development and maintenance as a park. Action would be taken whenever any violation was brought to the police notice, he said.
The town and the union council nazims failed to answer the court summons despite service of notices. City district government counsel Manzoor Ahmed stated that the issue related to the town administration and the city government had nothing to do with it.
POLICE WARNED: Justice Azizullah M Memon of the Sindh High Court on Thursday warned the in-charge of the Bangladesh Cell for Registration and local police of legal consequences if any illegal action was taken against a petitioner and his family, adds PPI.
Fazalur Rehman, a resident of Rehmanabad, Block 5, F B area, moved the court against harassment by the officials of police and the Bangladesh Cell for Registration. He alleged that although he and his family members had Pakistani identity cards, and their names were enlisted in voters' list, the respondents were harassing them on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.
After considering the comments filed by the respondents, the court observed that it was not mentioned as to whether or not an FIR had been registered against the petitioner for being illegal immigrant.
The court observed, allowing the petition, that if any illegal action was taken against the petitioner and his family by the respondents, they would face legal consequences, accordingly.