HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Thursday directed district administration to shift old sabzi mandi in the manner in which it was done in Karachi and ordered that “shifting to new sabzi mandi be carried out in piecemeal manner as per facilities available”.

The division bench comprising Justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Amjad Ali Sahito said that no one should suffer by any act of the administration which deprived any person of lawful business since shifting of the mandi from one location to another was a purely administrative issue.

The bench passed the order after additional registrar submitted a report to the court the other day, which also referred to contention of proprietors and shopkeepers who claimed that the new sabzi mandi lacked basic infrastructure, hence it would cause inconvenience for them to relocate their businesses.

The court ordered that chairman of market committee examine allotments and terms and conditions of allotments and in case anyone failed to comply with the same his allotment be cancelled after issuance of notice of hearing.

The court directed Hyderabad deputy commissioner that he should ensure the new sabzi mandi was functioning after all requisite formalities had been completed. The shifting to the new sabzi mandi be carried out in a piecemeal manner as per facilities available, it said.

The bench said that auction proceedings should take place at new sabzi mandi and aggrieved persons be facilitated to shift their businesses to the new location.

It ordered that the basic facilities as pointed out by the report be provided within 15 days and directed deputy commissioner of Hyderabad to ensure that no nuisance be caused in old and new sabzi mandis. The court said it would take up the matter after four weeks.

The court had appointed additional registrar to submit a report after multiple petitions were filed in the court on the issue of shifting of old sabzi mandi to its new location off lined channel last year.

Abdul Rehman Arain, Asif Arain and others had filed identical petitions, claiming that basic amenities were non-existent at the new location and duplicate allotments of plots had been made.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2021