SHC appoints official assignee to verify land acquisition near Jam Sadiq Bridge

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has appointed an official assignee to survey a piece of land near the Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge to verify whether the land was obtained from a private company for the purpose of widening the road or not.

The direction came on a petition of the private company seeking implementation of the court directives with regard to payment of compensation in respect of land acquired by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for widening of a road near the Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge in the Korangi area.

The petitioner submitted that the instant petition was disposed of on September 22, 2015, on the undertaking given by the counsel of the Sindh government’s land utilisation department that the compensation in respect of the land acquired by the KMC for widening of road near the bridge in survey would be given to the petitioner at the rate of Rs90,000 per square yard.

The counsel submitted that the alleged contemnors did not comply with the court order and undertaking given before the court. The local government secretary, additional secretary and Karachi Development Authority (KDA) director general (DG) appeared before the high court and stated that the local government had not acquired the land of the petitioner for widening the road. The petitioner’s counsel, however, denied the claim of the local government secretary.

A division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Mohammad Faisal Kamal Alam after taking the statements of the local government secretary and KDA DG on record observed that if the statement given by the government officials were found to be contrary to the records, appropriate disciplinary action which may include contempt of court proceedings as well as criminal prosecution on charges of perjury shall be initiated against them.

The SHC appointed an official assignee to survey the land and obtain all the relevant documents in order to verify the claim of the petitioner as well as the local government secretary and the KDA DG with regard to the acquisition of the land near the Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge.

The high court observed that the official assignee would be assisted by the revenue officials, survey department and other officials for ascertaining the crucial facts about the utilising of land of the petitioner in the public scheme.

Cost imposed

The SHC imposed Rs10,000 as cost on a Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) assistant director for not appearing before the court.

The high court had on a previous hearing directed the SBCA assistant director to appear before it along with the complete record of the demolitions of unauthorised construction in the Mehmoodabad area.

The SHC had directed the SBCA to remove the entire illegal structure by adhering to its standard operating procedure so that no damage might be caused to the neighbours and other people residing in the area.

The high court expressed its displeasure at SBCA Assistant Director Shahzad Raza for not appearing before the court despite an earlier direction. The SHC imposed Rs10,000 as cost on the officer and directed him to deposit the amount in the Sindh High Court Bar Clinic funds within three days. The high court also clarified that if the amount was not deposited, the same would be deducted from salary of the officer.