Encroached space : SHC annoyed at police failure to retrieve land

Aligarh university old boys’ cooperative housing society residents have been in litigation since 2010

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) gave on Tuesday three weeks to top police officers to remove encroachments from the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys' Cooperative Housing Society.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who headed the division bench, directed Karachi AIG Mushtaq Mahar and Malir SSP Rao Anwar to submit a compliance report by May 27.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed by owners of residential and commercial plots in the housing society. Since 2010, the appellants have been in litigation to get their plots retrieved from the clutches of land grabbers.

The appellants, including Raza Muhammad, said the society is one of the oldest housing projects in the city spread over six blocks measuring 233 acres. The society has 1,530 members.

It was registered in 1968 while the encroachment began in 2005, said the petitioners. It took the authorities two years to get two blocks — 9A1 and 9A2 — vacated from encroachers on court orders but the remaining four — 5A, 5B, 7A and 7B — have yet to be vacated, informed the petitioners.

The appellants recalled that the court had ordered the provincial and local authorities and law enforcers, including the Rangers, to get the remaining blocks vacated on February 13, 2014. However, the authorities failed to comply with the directives. Then, on December 23, 2014, the court granted five more weeks to the authorities as a last chance to retrieve the land.

Later, the appellants moved a contempt application against the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) anti-encroachment cell director, its land utilisation department and other authorities for their alleged failure to implement the court order. On March 11 this year, the bench directed the alleged contemnors to comply with its previous order, otherwise contempt proceedings shall be initiated against them.

In April, the judges had ordered the two top cops to retrieve the land from encroachers but they failed to do so.

During Tuesday's proceedings, the bench expressed its annoyance over police failure to get the land retrieved from encroachers.

AIG Mahar assured the bench that the anti-encroachment operation will be carried out in the presence of the deputy commissioner and head of KMC's anti-encroachment cell.

Allowing more time, the bench ordered AIG Mahar and SSP Anwar to do so by May 27 and submit a compliance report.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2016.