By Tahir Siddiqui KARACHI, Sept 14: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant for the arrest of an officer of the Karachi city government for not appearing before the court despite repeated notices.

A division bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam was seized with the hearing of a constitutional petition of Siraj Ahmed, who challenged the issuance of a show-cause notice by the CDGK official declaring the petitioner illegal occupant/encroacher on a plot.

The petitioner impleaded the chief secretary, the secretary of planning development department, the local government secretary, the additional district officer, Zone-1, Malir, the Town Municipal Officer, Malir, the district officer-1, the Karachi Electric Supply Company, the Sui Southern Gas Company, the Malir Town Police Officer and the SHO of the Saudabad police station.

The petitioner submitted that he was leased out a plot (D-46) at Sector-8 of Jinnah Colony in Malir Town by the Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority on August 31, 2001.He stated that he received a show-cause notice by the additional district officer under Section 3 of the Sindh Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) Act, 1973, on April 3, 2008 declaring the plot in question a public property and the petitioner an illegal occupant/encroacher.

He said that the show-cause notice required him to vacate the plot and demolish his house on it. The petitioner prayed to the court to declare the show-cause notice as illegal and without lawful authority and direct the respondents not to disturb the physical possession of the plot.

He also prayed to the court to restrain the respondents from evicting him from the plot.

The court had earlier put the additional district officer on notice directing him to appear in court to offer an explanation for issuing the show-cause notice to the petitioner.

The court had also warned that if the CDGK official failed to appear, a bailable warrant against him may be issued. The court issued bailable warrants against the city government official in the sum of Rs50,000 and put off the hearing to a date to be later fixed by the court’s office.

ECP, LG secy issued notices The Sindh High Court on Tuesday put the Election Commission of Pakistan, the Sindh local government secretary and others on notices in a petition for holding of the LG elections.

The petitioner, Moulvi Iqbal Haider, a practicing lawyer, submitted that the ECP did not notify election schedule for the next LG elections despite the fact that the local government institutions had completed their tenure of four years on October 16, 2009.

He submitted that the people had right to participate in the LG election and Article 32 of the Constitution provided that the state shall encourage local government institutions composed of elected representatives of the areas concerned.

The petitioner stated that powers had been delegated to the Chief Election Commissioner and the Commission and by virtue of Article 218 the duties of the Election Commissioner to constitute in relation to an election to organise and conduct the elections.

He said that the Election Commission, the LG secretary and others were not performing their constitutional obligations although the ECP is bound to issue a notification for holding of a fresh local government election. He prayed to the court to declare that the ECP was bound to notify the LG elections and direct the election commissioner to announce the schedule of the LG polls forthwith.

The SHC directed the respondents to file their comments on the petition and put off the hearing till Oct 5, 2010.