Court commissioner told to inspect alteration work on heritage site

Karachi: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday appointed its commissioner to inspect and submit a report on the alteration work being carried out by a private bank at a heritage site.

The direction was given on a plea, of Public Interest Law Association, challenging the heritage department’s permission granted to a private bank to alter a ground-plus-two pre-partition building situated on II Chundrigar Road.

The court also directed the commissioner to check if the respondent was intending on raising additional floors on the building.

The petitioners submitted that Silk Bank intended to build a ground-plus-32 storey building on a protected heritage site and immovable antiquity — Emirates Bank International Ltd (Lloyds Bank) - constructed in 1932.

They maintained that the building was reminiscent of the country’s architectural heritage and was permitted to be altered in sheer violation of Articles 4, 9, 14 and 28 of the Constitution, Antiquity Act 1975; Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994; Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014 and Sindh Building Control Regulations, 2002.

The petitioners claim that the project’s proponents have planned to demolish the ancillary building and erect a 33-storey tower on the property, adding, that the footprint of the tower will occupy the location of the ancillary building, the small open court and a large part of the heritage-listed Lloyds Bank structure.

Furthermore, they petitioners submitted that the culture department and the Sindh Building Control Authority had no power to grant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for such a major alteration of an immoveable antiquity and protected heritage.

The petitioners requested the court to declare the permission for alteration a violation of several laws of the constitution.

Petitioners’ counsel argued that the private bank intended to raise construction on the protected building and that not only the internal structure, but also additional floors were also intended to be constructed above the existing structure without the approval of engineering experts regarding the building’s stability as well as environmental protection agency.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui appointed the commissioner to visit the heritage site and submit a report on the alteration. The court also issued notices to the respondents including the heritage department, SBCA and others and called their comments on August 7.