SHC restrains KDA from demolishing 78 houses in Mujahid Colony

The Sindh High Court on Thursday restrained the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) from demolishing 78 houses in Mujahid Colony in North Nazimabad till further orders.

The interim order came on a petition of residents of Mujahid Colony who challenged the demolition exercise in their area.

The petitioners submitted that the KDA had started an anti-encroachment drive in Mujahid Colony without examining the legal status of the houses. They submitted that the KDA anti-encroachment cell was demolishing their legal houses on the pretext of an anti-encroachment drive. They claimed that they had lawful documents issued by the government landowning departments.

The petitioners’ counsel Syed Haider Imam Rizvi submitted that they were owners of residential houses as per the layout plan and revised the layout plan of the Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority.

He submitted that the court had earlier directed the authorities to ensure that no action was taken against the petitioners until it has been established that they have encroached upon the land.

The counsel submitted that as per the Nazir report 150 feet wide road is available excluding the petitioners’ houses and said houses did not come in the way of encroachments. He said the KDA had issued notices to the petitioners for vacating the houses and implementing the court orders. The counsel submitted that no such order is in the field and petitioners have not encroached upon the government land as mentioned in the Nazir report.

A high court division bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the KDA and others and called their comments. The court in the meantime suspended the impugned letter of the KDA with regard to dispossession of the houses.