A single bench of the Sindh High Court has stopped the demolition and sale of Hotel Metropole in Karachi and directed the parties involved in the case to submit their replies by February 19. The single-judge bench comprising Justice Agha Faisal issued the orders on the plea of advocate Muhammad Kamran Baloch representing the Khamisani Group of Companies. The Khamisani Group of Companies had pleaded the court to stop the hotel’s demolition as they owned shops there while the hotel administration had seized their goods for the last two years. Baloch told the court that they were neither given their belongings nor being paid compensation while the management was also not paying the price of shops. Earlier, the court ordered the officials to demolish illegal buildings in Gizri, PNT Colony, Punjab Colony, and Delhi Colony areas of the port city. The counsel pleaded that the hotel should not be sold or demolished till they receive their compensation. The court after hearing the plaintiff stopped the sale or demolition of the hotel.