KARACHI, Feb 8: A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab asked the city district government to deposit with the SHC nazir Rs5,000 as costs for its failure to file a counter-affidavit in a petition.

A petitioner claimed that he purchased a 1,515 square-yard plot (No B-10, Main Rashid Minhas Road, Gulshan-i-Iqbal) for Rs7.5 million in April 2005 but the city district government was not responding to his request for its mutation in his name. The bench had directed the respondent government to file a counter-affidavit on Thursday and awarded costs when none was filed. It warned that the government would be non-suited if it failed to pay the costs.

MEDICAL SEATS: The bench disposed of several petitions alleging that questions in entry tests for medical college admissions were ‘out of course’. The questions were referred to subject specialists, who said in their report that three out of the 15 questions were ‘out of course’. According to the advocate-general, even if the petitioner candidates were given full marks for the three questions, they would still remain ineligible. Advocates Ghulam Qadir Jatoi and Minhaj Farooqui, who represented the petitioners, said their clients have decided to approach the Supreme Court in appeal.