SC directs Sindh to evict illegal tenants from govt houses in two months

The Supreme Court on Friday gave a two-month deadline to the Sindh government to evict all illegal tenants from government-owned residences.

An apex court bench under Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed issued the order while hearing a case pertaining to the illegal allotment of government-owned residences.

During the hearing, the Additional Advocate General Sindh told the court that 229 houses in the province are illegally occupied. He said they were being vacated, but the matter had been put on hold due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a counsel for Islamabad's Capital Development Authority alleged that Islamabad Police were occupying 200 quarters owned by the government and were unwilling to leave despite talks on the matter.

He said the house supposed to be allocated to the Inspector General of Police, Islamabad was among the illegally allotted residences.

To this, the Additional Attorney General said only four official residences in the federal capital were the subject of continuing legal disputes and all others had been repossessed.

After hearing the arguments, the CJP said the court will consider the matter regarding Islamabad police in the next hearing.

The court subsequently ordered the relevant authorities to cancel all illegal allotments and issue new allotment notifications.

The SC also said that a report should be submitted after two months pertaining to the status of illegally occupied government residences.