AG tells Supreme Court: Constitutional options under study for Karachi

KARACHI: The federal government was considering different constitutional options for improvement of Karachi, the attorney general told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. During the hearing of petitions against illegal encroachments on public parks, amenity lands, revival of the Karachi Circular Railways and unauthorized multi-storeyed buildings in Karachi, Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan told the apex court that he had discussed with Prime Minister Imran Khan in detail about the Karachi issue.

The attorney general appraised the Supreme Court’s three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, that the federal government was reluctant to interfere but was mindful of the plight of citizens of Karachi and different options were being considered for addressing the dire straits the city today finds itself in. The AG said the city has been abandoned. Karachi is an important part of the country and if Karachi collapses, then the whole country suffers from its consequences and the government has to take drastic step to save the mega city. He said the federal government was considering all options provided under the Constitution and will not hesitate from taking all-possible administrative and legal options to reverse the plight; however, he was not at liberty to disclose specific details.

CJP Gulzar observed that Sindh is at the precipice of disaster and the provincial government seems to enjoy the anarchy-like situation prevailing there. The court inquired the advocate general as to when the situation of the province was going to be improved or some foreign powers be called for protection of the rights of citizens. The court observed that Karachi was forsaken for the last 40 years and it has become the city of gangs and mafias who are operating freely. The Chief Justice observed that courts are guardians of the Constitution and will ensure enforcement of fundamental rights of the citizens by taking all steps provided under the Constitution. The Chief Justice observed that the provincial government is virtually doing nothing from Karachi to Kashmore.

The court observed that the Sindh government was least bothered as to what the people have undergone in the recent monsoon rains while the chief minister only prefers visiting different places on a helicopter. In the aftermath of the rains, the entire city was inundated with sewage and now flies and mosquitoes are spreading diseases, the bench observed. The court observed that the Sindh government has not done anything to improve the infrastructure of the city in the last 20 years and the entire provincial machinery has failed. The court observed that the government functionaries were involved in illegal encroachments and activities and the entire government machinery was compromised.

The bench also observed that the entire city has been encroached and the government was least bothered to check or protect the public land. Justice Ijazul Hasan observed that when encroachments were made on government lands, it avoided taking action due to political expediency and later it turned into a Catch-22 situation. The CJP Justice Ijazul Hasan observed that when encroachments were made on government lands, it avoided taking action due to political expediency and later it turned into a Catch-22 situation. The CJP took notice of the public-private partnership advertisement for construction at the National Highway and expressed his annoyance over it. "What is this? We can't allow such work to be carried out. How can you award a contract to someone else?" wondered the chief justice.

Justice Faisal Arab observed that the provincial government has failed to provide basic infrastructure to its citizens and providing them with quality education and health facilities is a far off matter.

The court observed that there was total corruption in the province as one farmer received water for his land after 30 years, that too intervention after the judicial officer. The bench observed that all projects initiated by the provincial government are full of corruption and all funds have been misappropriated. The court observed that the first office which opened after Covid-19 was the sub-registrar's office which was making Rs50 million to Rs.60 million daily through fake land transfers and transactions. Justice Ijazul Hasan observed that the federal government allocated Rs6 billion rupees for the Right Bank Outfall Drain but not a single brick was installed and all money was misappropriated.

The Chief Justice observed that the Sindh government did not launch any housing scheme for the last three decades despite there was an increase of more than 10 million population in the city whereas only private housing schemes like the DHA and Bahria Town were launched. The court was informed by the advocate general Sindh that there was 38 main drains and 514 small drains in the city. He said that he has no objection if cleanness of drains' task was handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority. The court directed the NDMA to take over the Karachi drains and ensure that all drains may be cleaned and encroachments on drains are removed from these drains.

The court observed the Sindh government must provide full assistance to the NDMA for rehabilitation of affected people. The court directed the NDMA to submit report after the cleansing exercise and ensure that such exercise be completed within three months. The court observed that the NDMA shall also be involved in other infrastructure related matters.

The court observed that previously the court heard lawlessness cases and improved the law and order situation in the city and now all public related matters like construction of roads, removal of encroachments, safe water, transport, KCR have been initiated on the directions of the court. The court observed that all development works have been started after the intervention of the courts though it was the duty of the Executive to launch projects for welfare of the people.

Hearing an application with regard to allotment of Karachi Port Trust land for a housing society, the court observed that KPT shall not pay any amount to its officers or employees in return of the land until ultimate buyer/assignee of the land claim is decided by the competent forum. The court directed the chairman KPT to ensure removal of pollution from the port area.

Regarding new encroachments at the Kidney Hill Park, the court directed commissioner Karachi to take action if any construction was underway in the park.