Allottees accuse KDA of using delaying tactics. PHOTO: EXPRESS
SHC Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who was heading the two-judge bench, passed this order on a petition filed by 43 residents seeking removal of illegal encroachments and possession of the residential plots legally allotted to them in 1976.
In 1979, the revenue board handed over a huge piece of land in block six to the KDA which was then transferred to individuals through balloting. In the balloting process, there were 402 plots of various categories, which included plots from 420 square yards to 600 square yards, he informed.
On Sunday, the KDA held a ceremony to give back possession of the encroached land to the original allottees and vowed to start the development work 'soon'.
The question of demarcation arose during hearing of an application seeking contempt proceedings against the KDA land director, who had told judges that possession of the plots was duly handed over to the petitioners, who refuted any such claim.
"You're a public servant, so do not treat the people like minions," said the top provincial judge while addressing the KDA official.
The petitioners recalled that they had purchased the plots against payments of Rs64,000 each through auction but were unable to build their houses as the 'land mafia' had occupied their plots.
The petitioners alleged that while the court had clearly ordered the authorities to get the encroachments removed, the same had not yet been complied with in letter and spirit. In their joint petition, they had pleaded to the court to order the authorities to retrieve their plots from land grabbers and hand over possession to them.
Previously, the court had ordered the land director to get the plots cleared of encroachments and the police high-ups to establish pickets to ensure they do not reemerge.
On Tuesday, the chief justice inquired from the land director as to why possession of the plots in question had not yet been handed over to the petitioners -the real owners of the land.
The director replied that the plots had been retrieved and their possession was handed over to the petitioners but they are not carrying out any construction themselves.
Refuting his claim, the petitioners pointed out that they could not raise structures over the land as they had not been demarcated so far. They claimed that garbage is being dumped on their plots, which are still in the clutches of land grabbers.
The petitioners alleged that officials of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's land department as well as the KDA were hand-in-glove with the land mafia, therefore, the allottees were not being handed over possession of their plots.
The chief justice further observed that the petitioners had duly purchased the land in question, which was not given to them for free.
Taking serious notice of the state of affairs, the bench ordered the land director to ensure the land in question is demarcated before the end of the day (yesterday) and submit a compliance report in the court. It also called a report from the East DIG as to what is the ground reality regarding the possession and demarcation issues.
However, till Tuesday evening, no report regarding the ordered demarcation was filed by the land director.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2016.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ