SHC seeks details of ‘interference’ in SBCA’s affairs

Karachi

The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on Tuesday to produce material relating to the alleged interference in its affairs by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).

The direction came on a petition of the SBCA against what it described as interference in its working and harassment of its officers by the three government agencies.

Being aggrieved at continuous raids and interference by the investigation agencies, the building regulation authority of the province alleged that the “negative and unconstitutional actions” of the agencies were affecting its performance day by day, and the volume of unauthorised and illegal construction was increasing in the province, specifically in urban areas. It would not be possible to achieve the objective of the promulgation of the SBCA rules and regulations in such circumstances, it said.

The petition, filed by the SBCA director, said that during the past several months, NAB, FIA and ACE officials were continuously raiding its offices in violation of articles 4(1)(a), 9 and 10 of the constitution and taking away original files and records of different buildings without any intimation or receipt. 

The officer submitted that the investigation agencies had taken away thousands of original files and till date had neither returned them nor given any proof/receipt thereof, thus causing anarchy and chaos in the department. He said that as the officials of the building authority were custodians of the record, ultimately they were responsible for maintaining it and would be answerable for any missing or incomplete record.

He said the SBCA had already undertaken efforts to revive the authority in accordance with the law, and wherever it was found that some illegalities were committed by the some of its officers, the cases were reviewed and strict appropriate action recommended.

The SBCA director alleged that NAB, FIA and ACE officials were involved and interested in destroying the reputation and the record of his department to give undue benefit to some anti-social elements. He also accused them of pressurising and humiliating officials of the authority and trying to destabilise the authority and tarnish its image in the eyes of the public.

He said the investigation officials were acting arbitrarily against the law, misusing their official powers and misappropriating official records.

The SBCA also questioned the performance of the three agencies, mentioning that out of a total of 6,050 NAB inquiries only 2,332 resulted in cases, and out of those 2332 cases, 840 were under progress. It said it meant that out of 6,050 inquiries only 1492 or 25 percent had been decided by courts, and of those charged one in three (454 persons out of 1,302) were acquitted.

The court was requested to declare the acts of the respondent agencies illegal and also declare that the SBCA had no concern with the so-called China-cutting or allotment or allocation of any land or encroachments on land reserved for parks, government land or private land and other amenity plots. 

The SBCA also sought an injunction that the FIA, NAB and ACE be restrained from harassing its officers, damaging the reputation, acting or taking action against the authority or its any officer in any case which was beyond the preamble of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979. It requested that the media be restrained from airing or publishing defamatory content.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, SBCA legal advisor Shahid Jamiluddin sought time to submit material to support his contentions. The court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing to a date to be later notified by the office.