SHC orders action against SBCA officials

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered departmental and disciplinary action against officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) under whose supervision a multi-storey building was constructed on a 66-square-yard plot in the Gulbahar area of Karachi.

During a recent hearing on a petition against the unauthorised building in Gulbahar, a division bench of the high court headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi took exception to the illegal construction as well as its occupation.

The SBCA filed a report submitting that more than four floors had been constructed without an approved building plan and the building was now inhabited.The SHC directed the building control authority’s counsel to provide names of the SBCA officials who were posted at the relevant office at the time when the unauthorised building was constructed.

The high court ordered departmental and disciplinary proceedings to be taken against the delinquent officers and the private builder who allowed and raised such an unauthorised construction in violation of the law.

The bench directed the SBCA to file a compliance report as well as steps being taken for the removal of the unauthorised building and ejectment proceedings against the occupants who were residing there.The SHC also restrained the sub-registrar of the Liaquatabad area to register any documents in respect of the subject property or its any portion till the next date of hearing.

DHA barriers

The SHC also recently dismissed a petition seeking removal of barricades placed by the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) at the entry and exit points of the Qayyumabad area.

Petitioners Fardoon Khan Jadoon and others, residents of Qayumabad, had submitted in their plea that officials of the DHA were causing harassment to the residents of Qayyumabad by blocking the area on the main entrance and exit points by erecting barriers, gates and check posts.

They submitted that the placement of barriers were causing hardship and harassment to the residents and requested the high court to order removal of such barriers.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Rizvi after hearing the arguments of the petitioners’ counsel observed that the DHA staff had been taking steps for ensuring security and safety to the inhabitants of the area.

The high court observed that the instant petition was filed by the petitioners with the intention to restrain DHA officials from performing their official duties. The bench observed that the petitioners had failed to make out their case for the removal of barricades. The SHC dismissed the petition in limine.