KARACHI, Sept 4: The Sindh High Court asked the provincial government on Friday to submit its rejoinder to a suit instituted by the Bishop of Diocese of Karachi for a declaration that the diocese was the rightful owner in possession of all the property comprised in St Andrews Church, Saddar , and that he had been allowed to commercialize 5,573 square yards of the premises in 1975.
The plaintiff stated that he paid the commercialization charges, but the provincial government declined to proceed with conversion in 1978 and set up its own claim to joint ownership of the property. The land utilization member of the provincial board of revenue has set aside the divisional commissioner's order in respect of commercialization of the property and the government threatened the diocese's possession and ownership of the property.
He requested the court that the board of revenue had no authority to assume jurisdiction and direct the city district government to look into the matter of commercialization. He sought a declaration in favour of the diocese's sole ownership and possession of the property.
PRE-ADMISSION NOTICE: The court, meanwhile, issued a preadmission notice in a writ petition challenging a federal ombudsman's order to review his decision
Petitioner Nizamuddin Memon submitted through Advocate M. Nawaz Shaikh that the ombudsman had ordered the federal communications ministry and the Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation Limited to consider his case for appointment as assistant divisional engineer against the quota allocated to Sindh (Rural). While a petition for enforcement of the order was pending in the high court, the ministry got the order reviewed by the ombudsman.
The petitioner maintained that the ombudsman had no authority to review his recommendations under the 1983 president's order which established the office. The amendment made by the ombudsman to the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Investigation and Disposal of Complaints) Regulation, 1999, was ultra vires. The petition was heard by a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Zawwar Hussain Jaffery, which issued a preadmission notice to the respondent ministry.
KU SYNDICATE: The bench also issued notices to the respondents in a petition moved by Prof Dr Nikhat Siddiqui of the Karachi University's department of biochemistry through Advocate Abrar Hasan. The petitioner said she drew the election to the professor's seat in the KU syndicate with Prof Dr Nasiruddin Khan of the department of meteorites but the latter was declared elected by a margin of one vote. She maintained that both of them having obtained 30 votes each, the winner should have been decided by drawing of lots.