SC orders auction of Nasla Tower plot for payment of compensation to affected families

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered auction of the Nasla Tower land for payment of compensation to the affected families.

The direction came during the hearing of an application filed by the affected families of the Nasla Tower demolition against non-payment of their compensation despite court orders. The applicants’ counsel, Shahab Sarki, submitted that the affected families of the Nasla Tower had not been compensated despite the Supreme Court order.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa was informed that the owner of the Nasla Tower had passed away and no compensation had been paid to the allottees of the demolished tower for last three years.

The apex court directed the official assignee of the Sindh High Court to proceed auctioning of the Nasla Tower land after issuing advertisement in daily English and Urdu newspapers and granting sufficient time for bids. The SC directed the official assignee to submit a report with regard to the auction of the land.

The bench directed the affected families to submit their titles of claim and other relevant documents before the official assignee. The apex court also issued notices to the Sindh Muslim Cooperative Housing Society that shall provide details of the legal owners of the Nasla Tower land so that notices could be issued to the legal owners of the plot.

The SC also sought a report on the market value of the plot where the Nasla Tower once stood and ordered publication of an advertisement for the sale of the land.

Nullah affectees

The SC directed the Sindh government to give one month to the families affected by the demolitions along the Gujjar and Orangi nullahs who could not be included in the list of compensation and alternative plots to submit their relevant documents.

The apex court was informed by the Sindh advocate general that alternative plots and compensation for construction of cost would be paid to the 6,932 affectees of the Gujjar Nullah. He submitted that those families who could not get enrolled their names in the list of affectees could submit their relevant documents before the additional deputy commissioner-II South.

He submitted that the compensation amount for cost of construction would be decided by the Pakistan Engineering Council and the court had already given two-month time to decide the construction amount.

The SC observed that the government should also decide the allotment of plot policy being given to the affectees as purpose of the compensation was to help the affectees, not to make them rich.

Tejori Height

The SC directed a counsel for the Tejori Height to submit details of the owner of the land and the builder who raised the building in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area.

The affectees of the Tejori Height had filed an application before the apex court submitting that despite the court order, the compensation had not been given by the builder. The apex court was informed by the counsel that most of the affectees of the Tejori Height had been compensated, and those who were left would also be compensated when they had provided the relevant documents.

Justice Isa observed that the SC had ordered the builder to return the money to the allottees but the order was not complied with and inquired the counsel who the owner of the land was. The counsel submitted that he could not recall who was the owner of the plot and sought time to verify from record.

The SC directed the counsel to submit details of person who booked and received money from the allotees and how many affected persons had been refunded money.

The apex court also ordered removal of encroachments from the Railways land in Karachi and others areas. The SC directed the advocate general to categorise the cases of encroachments so that these cases could be heard and decided.

Contract employees

The CJP questioned the authority of the president of Pakistan and Sindh governor with regard to announcing development schemes for the Hyderabad Development Authority and asked how the president was interfering in the administration of Hyderabad.

The apex court also dismissed a petition of contract employees who had challenged the removal of their service from the Hyderabad Development Authority. During the hearing of the application in the Supreme Court Karachi Registry, the CJP remarked why the burden of illegal recruitment should be put on the people of Sindh. The SC observed that the people of the province were poor but the government was offering jobs in excess which could not be allowed.

The apex court observed that the contract employees were not appointed on sanctioned posts and when there were no sanctioned posts, these employees could not be given salaries from public money.