SHC tells CS to confirm if order has been complied with in land encroachment case

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the chief secretary and the director general of the Malir Development Authority (MDA) and directed them to submit compliance reports in land encroachment case.

The direction came at a hearing of a petition of Ms. Husna, who has moved the court against the illegal occupation of her plot in Shah Latif Town. She submitted that the MDA had failed to hand over possession of the plot to the petitioner despite the payment of all requisite charges.

A division bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, observed that the chief secretary was directed to submit a compliance report with regard to the removal of the encroachment and handing over the possession of the plot to the petitioner.

It observed that the law officer had filed minutes of the meeting and a compliance report, but nothing had been shown to tell what steps had been taken to comply with the orders of the court.

The bench said a proper compliance report had not been submitted by the chief secretary and directed him to submit the report at on the next date of the hearing. It issued notices to the chief secretary and the MDA director general to submit compliance reports on November 30.

Missing persons’ cases

The SHC directed investigation officers to make their best efforts to trace missing persons. During a hearing of petitions of missing persons who are alleged to have been taken away by personnel of law enforcement agencies, a division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, inquired the Karachi commissioner if a court order for the payment of compensation to families of missing persons had been complied with.

The commissioner said 10 families had been paid compensation; however, the payment of compensation to two families would be made within a week. The court had earlier directed the provincial government to inform it how the families of missing persons could be provided financial assistance and also asked the federal and provincial law officers to assist it in cases where heads of families had gone missing and the families were suffering due to the resulting financial crisis.

The provincial government had informed that court that a summary had been sent to the chief minister for sanctioning one-time compensation of Rs500,000 for each family of 12 missing persons whose cases fell within the category of enforced disappearance.