Evening traffic to return to Burns Road
People stand in a queue on a footpath to by bun-kebabs from a shop on Burns Road food street. Photo: jalal Qureshi/express
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday cancelled the notification pertaining to closure of roads and arteries around the popular food street on Burns Road for traffic in the evening. The court also ordered the removal of any encroachment made along the pavement by restaurants and food outlets.
A two-member bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi, issued the order on a plea filed by residents of the area against the closure of roads and adjoining lanes for the food street.
The court quashed the road closure notification and ordered the administration to open Burns Road roads for vehicular traffic in two days.
The petition contended that residents were facing difficulties in terms of access and mobility, due to the road closure and volume of parked vehicle in the adjoining streets that would invariably have bottlenecks. "Even ambulances are unable to find its way to those who are having an emergency."
The Sindh High Court adjourned the hearing on the appeals against the death sentence awarded by a military court to Saad Aziz and others in multiple cases, including the Safoora tragedy and the murder of rights activist Sabeen Mehmood.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Nimatullah Phulpoto heard the petition. The government lawyer stated that the matter related to the military courts was still pending in the Supreme Court. The appellants also include Tahir Minhas, Asadur Rehman, Hafiz Nasir and Azhar Ishrat.
The appeals said that they were sentenced to death by military courts in May 2016. It contended that death penalties awarded by military courts was against the law, while calling for its annulment.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2023.