SHC asks KMC whether it can allot spaces on streets for commercial use

Judgment will have far-reaching consequences, observes bench head

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the law officer for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to argue whether the corporation had legal authority to allot spaces on public streets in the city for commercial purposes.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, gave time as a last opportunity to the KMC's lawyer to argue on this issue on the next date of the hearing. The judges were hearing a petition on Tuesday against encroachments in the city's historic Jahangir Park.

Jahangir Park was gifted to the residents of Karachi by Zoroastrian philanthropist Byramji Jahangir Rajkotwalla in 1893. The park was initially called Byram Bagh but later its name was later changed to Jahangir Park.



Renovation work has recently been carried out by the Sindh government at the park. However, the petitioner, Agha Attaullah Shah, informed the judges that several cabins had been set-up on the street adjacent to the park, which caused inconvenience to visitors.

Shah argued that public streets could not be allowed to be used for commercial purposes, but the KMC had failed to take notice of it.

On the other hand, the lawyers representing the metropolitan corporation and the shopkeepers argued that the KMC had lawfully allotted the spaces on the street to the shopkeepers after fulfilling legal formalities.

"The Municipal Streets Law of 1926 gives lawful authority to the metropolitan corporation to allot the spaces on the public streets to set up cabins or shops," the KMC lawyer argued.



However, the judges directed the lawyers representing the KMC and the shopkeepers to argue on the matter of whether the corporation had the lawful authority to allot spaces on public streets for commercial purposes. "The decision in this case will have a far-reaching impact across the province," observed the bench's head.

The hearing was adjourned till a date to be later notified by the office.