JI files contempt plea against mayor, others for disobeying court orders in parks case

The Jamat-e-Islami has filed a contempt-of-court application against Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Karachi Development Authority (KDA) director general (DG) and KMC parks director general with the Sindh High Court for violating the court orders with regard to the commercial use of public parks under public-private partnership agreements.

Filing the contempt application, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Saifuddin Advocate submitted that the SHC had declared in its judgment that all the ‘public-private partnership agreements’ which were entered into by the KMC on the basis of the KMC City Council resolution were illegal and void.

He submitted that the SHC had also declared that all the amenity plots that had been rented out by the mayor and parks DG on the basis of the same resolution were illegally rented out as the decision was made in excess of the powers and functions of the KMC.

The applicant submitted that the SHC had made it clear that these amenity plot parks fell within the administrative authority of the KDA and all commercial use or conversion of amenity plots by the KMC was illegal. He submitted that the alleged contemnors had failed to implement the judgment in their own capacities. He said that all the public amenity plots that fell within the scope of the abovementioned judgment were still under commercial use and no action had been taken to remove such illegal commercial installations on these amenity plots.

The JI leader maintained that illegal actions of the alleged contemnors and their failure to restore the amenity plots to their original status had violated the high court’s judgment. He added that the alleged contemnors had been wilfully subverting and undermining the court order as all the illegal commercial installations were intact and operational on the amenity plots. The high court was requested to punish the alleged contemnors for deliberately neglecting and undermining the court order.

It is pertinent to mention that the SHC had declared the KMC City Council’s resolution with regard to the commercial use of public parks under public-private partnership agreements to be in excess of its authority and illegal.

The high court held that the amenity plots specifically designated for use such as that of amusement parks, parks, public buildings and schools being put to use as playgrounds was in violation of the Article 52A of the Karachi Development Authority Order 1957 and thus it was also illegal.

The Jamaat-e-Islami’s leader of the opposition in the KMC City Council, Saifuddin Advocate, and some town chairmen had challenged the approval of commercial use of public parks by the KMC under public-private partnerships.