5-floor building on 80 square yards — SHC seeks details

Court orders action against officials responsible for illegal construction

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has sought details of the action taken against the officers responsible for illegal construction on a 80-square-yard plot in Liaquatabad.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar and Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput heard the petition.

The petitioner's counsel argued that five floors have been constructed on a 80-square-yard plot in Qasimabad while work is underway to construct the sixth floor. "The SBCA is not taking action despite court orders. The court questioned the SBCA counsel as to why the court orders were not being implemented.

Justice Rajput inquired about the action taken against the officers who were deputed at the time of construction. The court directed to demolish the illegal structures. "Take action against the responsible officers and submit report," the court remarked.

The court sought details of the action against the officers responsible for the illegal constructions till February 9.

Meanwhile, the SHC bench issued a show cause notice to the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) South Deputy Director on a petition regarding illegal constructions in the Old City Area.

"Where is the SBCA South Deputy Director? The south deputy director had been summoned at the last hearing," the court remarked.

The south deputy director did not appear in the court. The court issued show cause notice on his absence. The court sought an explanation from the south deputy director over his absence.

Recruitment

MQM Pakistan (MQM-P) and others have challenged the notification of the provincial cabinet in the Sindh High Court regarding recruitment on more than 21,310 vacant posts in Sindh.

The application process for recruitment through the Sukkur IBA has also been challenged. The petition was filed by Deputy Convener, Kanwar Naveed Jamil and others through senior lawyer Tariq Mansoor. MNA Kishwar Zehra, MPAs Syed Hashim Raza, Ghulam Gilani, Javed Hanif Khan and Wasimuddin Qureshi are among the petitioners.

The petition states that irregularities are being committed in the recruitment process, being done in more than 38 departments. The purpose of the irregularities is to deprive the youth of Karachi of their jobs. Notifications were issued on January 3, 2020 and February 6, 2020 and proceedings were carried out silently for recruitment on grade 5 to 15 posts.

Sukkur IBA Testing Services has been awarded a contract for testing against the rules. Under the new procedure, jobs will be given through IBA Sukkur instead of IBA Karachi.

Later, Kunwar Naveed Jameel while talking to media said that a petition has been filed in the SHC regarding the jobs of Sindh government. The youth of Karachi have been ignored. He said that Sindh government should use IBA Karachi and ensure transparency in the recruitment process.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2021.