The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday tasked Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to end encroachments in the port city.
Hearing a case pertaining to restoring Karachi’s master plan, the apex court ordered that the chief minister work with all the departments to end encroachments in the city. It directed the chief minister to consult all the parties and restore Karachi according to the master plan, following which a report should be presented to the court. The apex court also ordered the removal of all encroachments on footpaths in the city. Further directives by the top court included clearing lands in front of hospitals which is being used to park ambulances, creating zebra crossings and putting up signboards across the city.
The Supreme Court also issued a contempt of court notice to Sindh Provincial Minister for Local Government Saeed Ghani for his comments over the anti-encroachment drive in Karachi.
During the hearing in which the attorney general, secretary defence and other officials were also present, the court rejected the report presented and said it was ambiguous. “Why were the court’s orders not followed,” Justice Gulzar remarked. “This report is unsatisfactory and is equivalent to defrauding,” he remarked.
To this, the attorney general replied that it is the Supreme Court’s order that he has a chance to explain himself.
Expressing anger at the Karachi mayor and the provincial minister for their comments over the anti-encroachment drive the judge remarked, “Where is the local government minister who said they will not demolish a single building? Where is the Karachi mayor who also kept saying they will not raze any building?”
Do they want to wage a war against the court? We will listen to everyone first and then decide where we want to send them.”
The court then turned to the director general of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and said, “We had given orders to remove illegal settlements from the city, has any action been taken in this regard?” The court further asked DG SBCA if he wants to go to prison straight from the court. Ordering the DG SBCA to take immediate action against illegal settlements and to remove them from the city, Justice Gulzar remarked that eight-storey high buildings have been constructed in Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony and there is no water or electricity in them. “There are illegal parking places in Zainab Market, along with the rest of Saddar,” he observed. To this DG SCBA told the court that action has been taken against illegal parking in Saddar.
The judge remarked that no action has been taken in Saddar. “I go to Saddar every day and see illegal parking there. When did you conduct a drive in Saddar?” Justice Gulzar asked.
The judge further told DG SCBA that he has sold the entire city. “Have you seen the state of Tariq Road? All the garbage has been dumped there. Didn’t any plaza owner construct a parking area there? It takes three hours to get out of the city,” he remarked.
The judge then ordered that all master plans of the city since 1950 be presented and that the court be informed on whose ordered were the plans changed and when. “We want to know when a commercial building was constructed and when was it commercialised and on whose orders,” the judge added.
The court also took exception to the Defence Housing Authority’s handing over of state land in Karachi to private entities, and ordered the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to ensure implementation of its January directive ordering the city-wide demolition of illegal constructions.
“The defence ministry is not acting on court orders,” Justice Ahmed observed. “Should we shut down the Supreme Court? What is the purpose of the Supreme Court then?” he questioned. “Should it be shut?”
“You say that court orders were acted upon,” the judge said. “Why, then, did everyone ignore such a large marriage hall in the Pakistan Air Force?”
“You need to first implement the court’s orders,” the judge said, adding, “The common man wants encroachments to first be removed from Cantonment areas. If the government wished, all the bulldozers would be ready in five minutes,” he said. The judge also expressed displeasure with Pakistan International Airlines, which had yet to raze a marriage hall that it was supposed to. “We haven’t razed the marriage halls yet, but we have issued a notice for it,” an official told the court, to which the judge responded that the company should eliminate its illegal constructions and marriage halls the same day. “You don’t know how to manage your airplanes, but you have now come to start building marriage halls,” the judge remarked.
The court also raised the question that whether the army has the authority to allot state land. The attorney general responded that the army is not benefiting from this, to which the judge retorted, “We don’t know anything about this, nor do we have any record of this. In Karachi, all parks and playgrounds have been taken over and named after martyrs. We seem to be right on top when it comes to martyrs. Who knows, maybe even I will become a martyr or be killed.”