Comments sought on regularisation of Katchi Abadis on KPT land

DMC Malir chairman told to appear in SHC along with contractor awarded cattle fee collection tender; case to be referred to NAB if orders not followed

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday directed the provincial law officer to file comments on petition against regularisation of Katchi Abadis established on the Karachi Port Trust’s (KPT) land.

The KPT had moved the court against regularisation of the informal settlements, by the provincial government. The trust’s counsel maintained that the provincial government had claimed regularising the shanties in different districts of the city, including Sikandarabad, Amjad Colony, Docks Colony, Machar Colony, Younusabad and Hijrat Colony which were illegally established on KPT land.

He submitted that regularisation of the Katchi Abadis on KPT’s land could not be done by the provincial government as the land fell into the jurisdiction of KPT. He requested the court to declare the regularization decision null and void and order removal of encroachments from the KPT land.

Provincial law officer sought time to file comments in the matter. The court also repeated notices to the Katchi Abadi authority for its comments observing that if a reply was not filed by the respondent the court would decide the matter on basis of available record.

 

DMC Malir chairman

The SHC directed district municipal corporation Malir’s chairman to appear along with the contractor to whom the DMC had awarded the contract to collect cattle fee.

Petitioner Owais Ansar and others submitted that they were cattle sellers who had brought their cattle to the market situated in district Malir, however, the petitioners alleged that DMC Malir authorities were charging excessive tax on their animals and receiving Rs1,080 per animal instead of Rs80 which was normal practice.

It was submitted that DMC Malir had made an agreement with private contractor Naik Mohammad for collecting animal tax fees during Eid-ul-Azha. The court on a previous hearing had summoned the private contractor but could send him a notice because it had the wrong address.

The chairman’s counsel also produced the copy of agreement between the DMC and the private contractor in which address and NIC of the contractor was not mentioned.

SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar directed the DMC Malir chairman to appear in court along with the contractor on October 5, and observed that in case they failed to appear before the court than the matter shall be referred to the National Accountability Bureau for investigation and necessary action in accordance with the law.