In business interest: SHC lifts partial closure ban on supermarket

Ban was enforced after superstore failed to create parking space for its customers.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court allowed on Monday Imtiaz Supermarket in Gulshan-e-Iqbal to stay open all day long, lifting the six-hour closure ban on it imposed by the civic authorities last week.

The newly-inaugurated store of the local retail giant near Moti Mahal was facing a partial shutdown from 3:30pm to 9:30pm every day since June 9. This order from an assistant commissioner of the area and was enforced after the superstore failed to create a parking space for its customers.

It had created a traffic mess on Rashid Minhas Road since its opening on May 27. Long queues of vehicles were seen every day from Gulshan Chowrangi to Johar Morr due to the multiple-lane parking of the people visiting the store.

The management was also accused of illegally using the land under the Lyari Expressway and on the riverine area as parking for its customers. Imtiaz Hussain, the owner of the retail chain, however, approached the court against the order and submitted that he was suffering huge financial losses due to this partial closure.

The SHC bench, headed by SHC Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, after reading comments from both the sides, observed that the authorities should impose heavy fines on those creating traffic nuisances but should not shut down the business for this reason. It ordered that the closure ban be removed immediately.

The bench also ruled that the authorities should control the traffic on the artery and ensure that commuters move freely without any hassle. It added that those who violate the law should be fined heavily so that they do not repeat it again.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2016.