SHC orders SBCA, others to maintain status quo over Dr Arif Alvi’s dental clinic

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday ordered the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and others to maintain status quo on a petition of former president Dr Arif Alvi’s wife Samina Alvi and son Awab Alvi against the SBCA’s action with regard to the sealing of their clinic.

The petitioners had challenged the SBCA’s action with regard to the sealing of their dental clinic that had been functioning for over three decades in the Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society (SMCHS) area.

Their counsel Ali Tahir submitted that the high court has set aside the earlier sealing order of the SBCA and directed the petitioners to approach the SBCA for regularizing or conversion of the premises in accordance with the law.

He submitted that despite the lapse of 45 days no order has been passed on the petitioners’ application for conversion of the property for hospital purposes and the matter was improperly referred to the appellate committee that lacked jurisdiction in the matter.

The counsel said that such a move of the SBCA undermined the petitioners’ right to legitimate appeal and created significant procedural irregularities in the matter. He submitted that there was a growing apprehension that this deviation from judicial directives has been orchestrated to politically victimize the petitioners.

He said that this concern is further heightened that the SBCA operates under the direct control of the ruling political party’s government, raising the possibilities of political motives influencing the process.

The counsel said that the use of the subject property for a dental clinic was entirely permissible under the existing legal framework and principle of natural justice as the same had been in operation since 1992 and the abrupt sealing of the premises on October 3, 2024 without prior notice is procedurally and substantively flawed.

He said that the SBCA action also disregards Karachi building and town planning regulations, which classify dental and medical clinics under health and welfare uses, asserting that the clinic does not fall outside the ambit of permissible residentiary uses and nor does it constitute a misuse of residential plot.

The high court was requested to declare that the sealing of the subject premises in SMCHS should not be carried out without due process and to restrain the SBCA from taking coercive action and restore the health facility to its original position.

The counsel also sought an injunction against harassment or taking any unlawful action against the petitioners or their property. A division bench of the high court, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the SBCA and others and called their comments. The court also directed the parties to maintain status quo in the matter.