KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed a lawyer for the petitioners to satisfy the court about the maintainability of a petition filed against a provincial government’s plan to allot 6,000 acres to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Hawkesbay.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Arshad Hussain Khan and Justice Sana Akram Minhas also asked the counsel to file documents about the title of the land being claimed by the petitioners.

Last month, a similar petition had also been filed in the SHC and another division bench had issued notices to the chief secretary, administrator of DHA and other respondents as well as a provincial law officer for a date to be fixed after summer vacation.

In the latest plea, Ghulam Qadir and nine others petitioned the SHC for declaring the proposed actions of the Sindh government regarding allotment of the land to DHA in Hawkesbay as null and void.

Citing the chief secretary of Sindh, administrator of DHA, senior member board of revenue, secretary of land utilisation department, Keamari deputy commissioner and others as respondents, the petitioners submitted that they were residents of various goths located in Hawkesbay since their birth and associated with fishing while their ancestors had also resided there.

At the outset of the hearing, the SHC questioned the maintainability of the petition and also asked about the locus standi of the petitioners.

Representing the petitioners, advocate Aqib Rajper asserted that his clients were residents of the area in question and if the proposed allotment was made, they would be dispossessed of their land and houses.

However, the petitioners have not attached the documents of such land with the petition.

The bench asked the lawyer to file the title documents of land, said to be belonging to petitioners, if any and also sought arguments about the maintainability of the petition at the next hearing.

The hearing was for a date to be fixed later by the office of the court.

The petitioners asserted that they came to know about a letter written by the administrator of DHA in December last year to the Sindh chief secretary requesting allotment of ‘bulk number’ of land [measuring 5000-6000 acres] to DHA Karachi for its expansion in vicinity of Hawkesbay.

Thereafter, they maintained that the chief minister took up the matter and directed senior member board of revenue to examine the same and in compliance whereof, a letter, dated Jan 30, 2024, was addressed to the secretary of land utilisation department and senior member for taking further necessary action with regard to the letter of DHA.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2024