Daily Times

Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered the Karachi authorities on Friday to initiate joint action against commercial use of land meant for residential properties in the city.

A two-member bench presided over by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard a petition against the commercial use of residential areas on Friday. He ordered the Karachi mayor, project director of Lines Area Development Authority, Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and others to present a report within a timespan of 15 days after taking action on the directives of the court.

During the hearing, the SBCA lawyer told the court that ridding the city of encroachments did not come within the authority’s jurisdiction. “These are not encroachments, these are illegal constructions,” responded Justice Khan.

The lawyer also argued that SBCA could not take action with regards to public land but Justice Khan said, ” If illegal work is being done on public land, should SBCA remain indifferent to it?” Justice Khan then directed the institutions to seek help from the police in ridding the city of illegal constructions. “If the police does not do the job, we will provide the authorities with Rangers but we need to rid the metropolis of encroachments,” directed Justice Khan.

Moreover, the bench also expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of implementation of its previous orders. The SBCA lawyer told the court that the Lines Area Development Authority had the authority to take action in some areas. He further said that whenever they tried to end the commercial use of residential properties, people resumed business again. “Our job is to close shops, not break them,” he added.

The petition filed by Advocate Syed Attaullah Shah sought action against the commercial use of residential land. The petition stated that people involved in such practices were influential and therefore no organisation took action against them. The petitioner further submitted that the court orders had not been implemented since 2012 and sought contempt of court proceedings against the relevant stakeholders.

Published in Daily Times, December 1^st 2018.