SHC orders KWSB to reclaim its 344 properties occupied illegally

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday ordered the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to take back the control of the board’s 344 properties that are in possession of unauthorised and illegal occupants, within a month without fail.

The direction came on a petition filed by a KWSB employee who moved the court for possession of his accommodation illegally occupied by unauthorised persons. The court, on the previous hearing, had directed the KWSB to submit details of the properties that were in illegal and unauthorised possession. The KWSB administration submitted a compliance report before the court, mentioning that 182 properties of the board were in possession of retired or serving employees who were not entitled to the properties, whereas 162 properties were in the possession of encroachers or illegal occupants.

A KWSB official said none of the persons occupying the 344 properties of the board were entitled to hold them. He said the KWSB had issued notices to all such persons to vacate the occupied properties and letters had been issued to the relevant authorities of the KWSB. He said no action, however, had been taken with the law enforcement agencies in this regard.

The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, after the perusal of the report, observed that all purported efforts of the KWSB had failed which was not sufficient or effective as such properties were illegally occupied by the unauthorised persons. The court said that the Supreme Court had directed the authorities concerned to evict the unauthorised and illegal occupants from the government accommodations.

The court directed the KWSB to ensure that the possession of all such properties be taken from the unauthorised and illegal occupants within 30 days. The court directed the KWSB to take all necessary steps for the implementation of the court order and submit a compliance report by January 13.

Show-cause notice

The SHC issued a show-cause notice to health secretary Dr Kazim Hussain Jatoi for non-compliance of the court order, observing as why proceedings should not be initiated against him for the violation of an undertaking before the court.

The court was hearing the petition filed by Akhtar Hussain and others who had challenged the appointment criteria for vaccinators in the vaccination programmes in different districts of the province. The court observed that the health secretary had undertaken that he would submit an inquiry committee report concerning the irregularities in appointments of vaccinators, however, he had not appeared before the court.

The project director of the EPI Sindh submitted that the inquiry had not been completed as one member of the inquiry committee had tested positive for Covid-19. The court, taking notice over non-appearance of the health secretary, issued a show-cause notice to him and directed him to submit explanation about non-compliance of the undertaking on

January 11.