Sindh

Clifton land case: Apex court to decide fate of eight plots

Six years on, estate owner has not been paid in full.

Saba Imtiaz August 29, 2012

KARACHI: A six-year long saga over some plots near the British Deputy High Commission in Karachi may finally end today (Wednesday), as the case is set to be heard at the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry.

The case, which has been heard by two benches at the Sindh High Court, relates to eight plots on Shahrae Iran: an exclusive neighbourhood which houses several diplomatic missions, Szabist, the Convent of Jesus and Mary, and notables such as Ghinwa and Fatima Bhutto.

Mohammad Sadiq, the plaintiff, owned eight plots behind the British diplomatic enclave. When he tried to build on his land, he was asked not to do so for “security reasons”, as a result of which Sadiq filed a lawsuit for declaration in the high court, his lawyer Masroor Ahmed Alvi says.a

The Sindh government bought the property from Sadiq through the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The law allows the government to acquire private land for public purposes after paying a fixed compensation.

The deal between the government and Sadiq was finalised at Rs98 million, but the government only paid the owner Rs80 million. To recover the remaining amount, the petitioner took the matter to the Sindh High Court.

A high court judge ruled in Sadiq’s favour, but the Sindh government applied to a division bench. The court dismissed the government’s plea, allowing the application of the proprietor. In May, the bench ordered the government to pay Sadiq the money within 10 days.

The government then filed a civil petition in the Supreme Court for the leave to appeal, which is scheduled for Wednesday. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany will take up the case.

At the hearing in the Sindh High Court on Tuesday, the plaintiff’s lawyer asked for another hearing date since the issue was to be heard by the apex court. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar has set September 10 for the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2012.