SHC orders razing unauthorised building in Ramswami area

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to take effective steps for the demolition and removal of an illegal multi-storey building constructed in the Ramswami area.

The direction came on a petition of Mohammad Saleem against the unauthorised construction on plot No. G-10 in Gulshan-e-Ahmar located in the Islampura area on Nishtar Road.

The petitioner’s counsel Usman Farooq said that the private respondent had raised a seven-storey building on a 60-square-yard plot without having any approved building plan.

He said that the petitioner had lodged a complaint with the SBCA, but no action had been taken against the illegal construction, which was being raised in violation of the approved building plan and the Karachi Building Town and Planning Regulations 2002.

After hearing the arguments of the counsel, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi restrained the private respondent to part with the possession of the property subject matter of the petition or any portion thereof.

The court directed the SBCA to take effective steps for the demolition and removal of the illegal construction being raised on the property in violation of the approved building plan and the Karachi building town and planning regulations. The court also directed the relevant sub-registrar to not register any documents to the subject building or any portion unit.

The court restrained the agencies providing utilities to not provide any utility connections to the subject property or any portion unless the SBCA issues a completion certificate in accordance with the law. The court then directed the SBCA and other respondents to submit a compliance report within four weeks.