SHC judge voices concern over Karachi’s law and order situation

The Sindh High Court on Thursday expressed concern over the law and order situation in Karachi, observing that if common people got an opportunity to leave the city, they would.

Hearing a petition with regard to the registration of cases against litigants at different police stations of the city, a high court division bench, headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, observed that lawyers got registered several cases but no action had been taken by the police.

The court further said that the police have been made so weak that they do dare to stop influential persons or take action against them. It said police are always ready to take action against poor persons, and if the common man argues or scuffles with police, his video is made viral and he faces proceedings.

The high court observed that lawyers got registered 600 cases at different police stations of the city, but no action had been taken on these cases. Dacoits, it said, were roaming in the province due to influential landlords, as no case was even registered against

influential landlords or nor were any proceedings initiated.

Sindh’s inspector general of police filed a report with the court, submitting that lawyers got registered as many as 581 cases in the year at different police stations of the city. The report said that several cases were disposed of under A class due to lack of evidence, while in some cases parties entered into compromise.

The high court, after taking the report on record, directed other parties to submit their reports on the next date of the hearing. Illegal constructions: The Sindh High Court also took exception to unauthorized constructions in the city and observed that the city had been made a concrete jungle by the authorities.

Hearing a petition against an unauthorized construction on a plot near the Jamshed Road area, the court observed that citizens were facing hardships in even to take breath properly in densely populated areas where high-rise buildings areas were located.

The petitioner submitted that the private builder did not comply the building laws and no open space was left for the construction of the building. The respondent’s counsel submitted that the petitioner can approach special courts constituted under the SBCA laws if any violation had been committed. The court directed the SBCA to inspect the property in question and submit a report with regard to any violation of the approved building plan.