SHC takes exception to KDA’s failure to remove encroachments

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday took exception to non-removal of encroachments on an amenity plot in Landhi despite court orders that directed the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) to submit a compliance report.

Hearing a petition against encroachments on the amenity plot in Landhi, a division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar asked a KDA officer why the court order was not obeyed despite a lapse of 11 years.

A counsel for the petitioner submitted that the court had ordered removal of encroachments from the amenity plot in November 2011 but the order of the court was not complied with in letter and spirit.

The SHC inquired a KDA officer what the authority was doing for the last 11 years and why the order of the court was not followed. The high court observed that the encroachments had still not been removed by the authority and asked the officer how much more time the KDA would take to comply with the court order.

The KDA officer submitted that a housing society was established on the amenity land, to which the SHC asked him why a housing society was allowed to be established on an amenity land and directed the KDA to submit a compliance report on the next hearing.