DHA to remove illegal security camps outside residences

KARACHI: The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) will remove all the illegal security camps set up outside the residences ‘indiscriminately’, the authorities informed the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday.

The authority disclosed this in a report filed to the apex court, which had asked for submission of the uniform policy and standard operation procedures for establishing security camps outside residences in the DHA.



The bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, was hearing an application filed by a former SC judge, Deedar Hussain Shah, who had taken the DHA management to the court over removal of security camp from outside his residence.

The former judge had alleged that such camps were allowed outside the residences of politicians, high-profile officials and personalities. However, the same outside his residence has been removed without offering any justification.

On the last hearing, CJ Anwar Zaheer Jamali had observed that there should be a uniform policy about the setting up of security camps outside residences in the DHA. Therefore, it had directed the DHA management to submit a uniform policy in this regard. During Thursday’s proceedings, the DHA management filed a report through its lawyer.

In the report, it said that all the illegal security camps set up outside the residences ‘indiscriminately’ will be removed under a uniform policy. The authority further disclosed that more than 150 such security camps have been set-up outside the residences within its territorial limits, which are all illegal. The authority maintained that the action against such illegal security camps will be initiated under Rule 33 of the Sindh Building Control Regulations.



However, the bench members observed that all the residents, including the former legislators, the ministers, the judges, the traders and others, should be treated equally during the action against the illegal security camps.

DHA’s lawyer undertook that the DHA management will get all these illegally set up security camps removed from outside the residence without any discrimination.

The judges directed the DHA management to carry out such exercise within 15 days and submit a compliance report to the court thereafter.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2016.