KARACHI, May 21: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday appointed a Nazir to inspect the construction work at the site of Shri Laxmi Narayan Mandir, a Hindu temple believed to have been constructed about 200 years ago at the Native Jetty Bridge.

The direction came on a contempt of court application against former provincial minister, Mukesh Chawla, the secretary of Hindu Panchayat and the caretaker of the temple, Arjun, for not completing the staircase of the temple and other construction work within the deadline given by the SHC.

The contempt application was filed by Kailash Wishram, a resident of the residential quarters on the temple premises, who had earlier filed a constitutional petition against the construction that he said had blocked pilgrims’ access from the temple to the sea.

While disposing of the petition, a division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar had ruled that the access to the temple should not be blocked or hindered so that pilgrims of the minority community might carry out their religious rites according to their faith.

The court had also directed the respondents to complete the staircase within one month and the other construction within four months.

However, Mr Wishram said, the respondents did not comply with the court’s order and prayed to the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the alleged contemnors.

According to the petitioner, Narayan Mandir was constructed much before the partition of the subcontinent and for a long time Hindus performed their religious rituals at the temple, where access to the seawater was one of the essentials to perform worship.

He submitted that a private company, an endeavour in collaboration with the Karachi Port Trust, had started some construction work blocking the access to the sea from the temple.

Mr Wishram said that the construction would threaten their place of worship and so the rights of the minority community at large.

According to the Pakistan Hindu Council, the temple was constructed about 200 years ago and many religious ceremonies and festivals are observed here.

The court had earlier ordered that the temple, its staircase, the boundary wall and corridors originally constructed might not be demolished.