Court halts construction in Burnes Garden

Mayor claims govt illegally constructing in the park


Our Correspondent September 22, 2017
The National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi is built in Burnes Garden. PHOTO: KARACHI MUSEUM

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) restrained on Thursday the provincial government from raising illegal constructions in Burnes Garden, which houses the building of the National Museum in Saddar neighbourhood.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, also issued notices to the provincial advocate-general and other respondents to file their comments in this regard by October 25.

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Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar had approached the court, alleging that Burnes Garden was a property of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) where the provincial government had started constructions in an attempt to 'occupy' the public park.

The court was informed that a new building was being built on the park's premises, which was a violation of the law as well as the rulings of the superior courts that amenity spaces could not be used for any purposes other than those they were originally earmarked for.

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It was further stated that the KMC had sent a notice to the provincial government authorities concerned, asking them to stop the illegal constructions being carried out on the park's land. However, the authorities were unmoved as constructions were still continuing.

The mayor pleaded to the court to restrain the provincial government from carrying out constructions in the Burnes Gardens park in an illegal and unlawful manner. During the proceedings, the judges were requested to also grant a stay against the construction.

After hearing initial arguments, the bench issued notices to the provincial advocate-general and the respondents to file their comments in this regard by October 25. The court also ordered that the construction being done on the land of the public park should be stopped forthwith till the next date of the hearing.

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