KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to a builder and secretary of a housing society on an application seeking contempt proceedings against them for not honouring a restraining order issued with regard to the pre-partition building of a government school in Shanti Nagar.

The lawyer for the petitioners argued that on March 8 the SHC had restrained the builder from interfering in the school building.

However, the counsel submitted that alleged contemnors, builder Uzair Hanif and secretary Callachi Housing Society Masood Anwar, had started construction on the subject property in violation of the court order.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi issued notices to both the alleged contemnors.

Earlier, seven residents of Shanti Nagar, Dalmia had petitioned the SHC stating that the provincial authorities concerned were handing over the pre-partition public school building, spread over a total area of 4,000 square yards, to the builder to raise a multi-storey structure for commercial purposes.

Impleading the education department, board of revenue, deputy commissioner-East, district education officer, mukhtiarkar of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, housing society, builder and others as respondents, the petitioners sought interim restraining order as well as other directives for respondents.

Illegal construction in Lyari

Meanwhile, another bench has issued notices to the SBCA, sub-registrar Lyari, police officials concerned, builders and others on a petition filed against illegal construction in Lea Market, Lyari.

It also directed the builders not to raise any construction on the subject property in violation of building plan and Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002.

The bench said that in case of any illegal construction, the Sindh Building Control Authority should take steps to demolish such construction and also ordered the sub-registrar not to register any document in respect of any unit/portion of the subject building.

The utilities providing agencies must not provide any utility connection unless completion certificate of the building was issued by the SBCA, it added.

While putting of the hearing for a date to be fixed after four weeks, the bench also issued notices to the advocate general Sindh.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2022