Skip to main content

SHC orders Karachi authorities to end 'illegal' commercial use of residential areas

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

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

During the hearing today, the SBCA lawyer informed the court that ending encroachments did not come within the authority's jurisdiction, to which Justice Khan responded by saying that "these aren't encroachments ... these are illegal constructions".

The lawyer also said that the SBCA could not take action with regards to public land. But the argument did not sit well with the SHC judge, who said: "If illegal work is being done on public land, do the SBCA's hands and feet get cut off?"

Justice Khan verbally directed the institutions to take help from the police to end the illegal constructions, saying "if the police does not do the job, we will provide Rangers, but the constructions should be ended."

The court also expressed displeasure at the lack of implementation of its previous orders on the matter.

The SBCA lawyer said the Lines Area Development Authority has the authority to take act in some areas, but the lawyer for that authority said whenever they try to end the commercial use of residential properties, people start such businesses again.

"Our job is to close shops, not break them," he said.

The petition filed by Advocate Syed Attaullah Shah sought action against the commercial use of residential land, saying people involved in such practices are influential and therefore no organisation takes action against them.

The petitioner said the court orders have not been implemented since 2012 and sought contempt of court proceedings against the parties concerned.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2KIJOjG
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more