The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) has repealed its recent amendments to the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002 with regard to commercial use of residential and amenity properties in the city, the director general of the SBCA told the Sindh High Court on Thursday.
Filing a notification with a high court division bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, SBCA DG Mohammad Ishaque Khoro submitted that the SBCA has repealed its notification with regard to amendments in the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002 after further review and consideration.
The court, after taking the report of the SBCA DG on record, disposed of the identical petitions through a short order. Several petitioners, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pasban Democratic Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan and other civic rights activists, had challenged the amendments to the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002 with regard to commercial use of residential and amenity properties in the city.
One of the petitioners, Saifuddin advocate, the leader of the opposition in the city council, welcomed the repeal of the decision that allowed commercial activities on residential plots in contradiction to the city's Master Plan.
He termed the repeal of the notification a victory for Karachiites and said the notification was aimed at facilitating a very few blessed people but it was a sheer violation of the Master Plan.
He demanded action against all those involved, including the director general of the SBCA, in the alleged conspiracy against the Master Plan. He also demanded withdrawal of all the permissions granted under the notification with effect from March 13 to May 15.
Chairperson PILAP Saad Amanullah Khan said, “This isn’t just a win for Karachi, it’s a win for every citizen who believes their voice matters. The Constitution guarantees us the right to dignity, privacy, and participation. Unfortunately, these rights are too often denied in practice. While one person alone may have limited power, it is through collective action that real, lasting change becomes possible, as witnessed today. That’s why platforms like PILAP are essential, where citizens can collectively demand what is rightfully theirs and hold institutions accountable.”
The petitioners had submitted that the impugned amendments would violate the basic rights of citizens and open floodgates of commercialisation of residential areas as any house could be used for any commercial activity. They said the amendments ripped amenity plots of their status and the government would be able to use them for any purpose. They submitted that the amendments were a clear violation of the KDA ACT 1958 and the Supreme Court rulings.
They further remarked that the notification had exceeded its authority and gone beyond the vires of statute. They submitted that the amendments would turn residential areas into commercial or semi-commercial areas, disturbing its peaceful environment and the residents would be facing obvious mental agony and tortures tagged with traffic noises as well as hundreds of strangers would be crossing in the vicinity due to sudden permission of carrying out commercial activities.
They also submitted that as per the terminology, residential area meant a place dedicated to the residents only without having any commercial activities. They said that the amendment to the Regulation 18-4.2.2 removed the requirement of inviting public objections before seeking to convert property for residential use to property which could also be used for education and health and this snatched the rights of neighbours to be heard before residential plots in their neighbourhoods can be used for education or health purposes.
The petitioners maintained that the apex court had also imposed a ban on converting the residential properties into commercial or residential-cum-commercial properties, as such the impugned notification was beyond the scope of the SBCA, which had assumed itself the authority that could alter the Master Plan of Karachi.