KARACHI: Sindh High Court has restrained the Cantonment Board Clifton on Friday from levying parking fee at eight parking lots within its territorial jurisdiction till further orders.
A division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar ordered: “Till the next date of the hearing, the CBC is restrained from charging or collecting any amount from vehicle owners on account of parking fee in respect of the eight locations specified in the CBC’s letter.”
The bench noted that it had already been held by the high court that the CBC cannot levy parking fee without proper and formal legislation. “No such fee can be charged in respect of the eight locations specified in the letter,” stated the bench.
The bench issued a notice to defense secretary, CBC’s executive officer, senior superintendent police South, Saddar police station’s SHO and a private respondent to file their respective replies to the petition untilNovember 15.
The court also issued a notice to the federal and provincial law officer to ensure the filing of comments by the official respondents.
It is to be noted that Sea Breeze Plaza Owners/Residents Welfare Association through its chairman Muhammad Afzal petitioned the high court, assailing the impugned letter of the CBC authorizing charged parking at eight spots.
According to the letter, the eight parking lots included Sarwar Shaheed Road (except the front of Karachi Press Club (KPC), both sides of Coast Guard), Sabir Baig Shaheed Road (excluding the side of KPC), Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan Road (excluding the front of Army Library, Baloch Mess and one side of Avari hotel), Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Road, Saghir Hussain Shaheed Road (excluding the front of the Church), Kayani Shaheed Road, Shahrah-e-Faisal (only service road from Faisal Bank to Dadhabhy Centre, excluding the front of Arfeen Mosque), Abbasi Shaheed Road (service road from FTC building to NICL and attached road from FTC to Muslim Colony).
Afzal submitted that the CBC had issued a letter on September 04th specifying the charged parking lots which included the portion of Plot No ST-6 located at Shahrah-e-Faisal. The space was the part of the plot, which was left by the builder of the Sea Breeze Plaza project for parking to be used by the residents and visitors.
However, he argued, the CBC unlawfully authorized a private contractor to charge parking fee from every owner/driver of the vehicle using the parking lot.
Advocate Salahuddin Ghandapur, who represented the petitioner, contended that parking fee cannot be charged in the absence of any appropriate legislative authority since there was no provision in the Cantonment Act 1924, empowering it to levy the fee.
He told the judges that the CBC acted in violation of the Article 4, 23, and 25 of the country’s constitution. The petitioner, therefore, pleaded the judges to declare the letter in question illegal and restrain CBC from levying parking fee.