GUJRAT, Nov 1: Nineteen tenants have filed a petition in a local sessions court against sealing of their shops by a judicial magistrate without what they alleged any ‘justification’.

Tenants’ counsel requested the court to cancel the impugned orders dated Oct 28, 2002, of the judicial magistrate through which A-division police had sealed the shops of his clients located on the Railway Road.

Counsel observed that respondent No 1 Razia Begum had a property dispute with her brothers, Ghulam Husain and Javed Akhtar, and cases were being heard in courts. Under such circumstances, the shops could not be sealed.

He alleged that Razia Begum had fraudulently got sealed the shop of applicant No 1 Zafar Iqbal who had purchased this shop on April 17, 1989, and it did not have any link with the disputed property.

He further alleged that the subordinate court had neither served notices on his clients nor it had used vested jurisdiction.

Tenants Tahir Iqbal, Shabbir Husain, Wallayat Shah, Nasir Mahmood, Shaikh Waqar, Noor Husain, Mahmood Butt, Tajammal Husain, Abdul Qayyum, Abdur Razzak, Muhammad Asif, Talib Husain, Zafar Abbas, Javed, James Masih, Nadeem Butt, Ashiq Husain and Shawaiz Malik told this correspondent on Thursday that an EPB assistant director, Zia Ahmad, who is the son of the respondent No 1, had got sealed their shops with the alleged connivance of the management as well as the police.

They further alleged that Zia who introduced himself as magistrate and often used an official vehicle, had been harassing them and asking them to vacate these shops since long.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the judge has adjourned the hearing until Nov 2.