“Ask the president to buy the land, if he is so concerned about his security,” remarked Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, expressing his annoyance over the blockade of the road surrounding Bilawal House in Clifton.
The court made these observations on Tuesday during its hearing on the implementation of the Karachi violence suo motu recommendations given a year ago.
Most of the thoroughfares have been blocked by barricades around the offices of law enforcement agencies. A 50-feet high wall has been constructed in the middle of the road to protect Bilawal House, causing problems for the people who use the artery.
It noted that the court road in front of the Sindh Assembly had also been closed down by installing gates, and barricades had been placed on footpaths in front of the Pakistan Cost Guard office.
The bench called all of this a clear violation of Article 9 of the Constitution that ensures citizens a right to life.
The court expressed its annoyance also over the closure of the road from Shaheen Complex to the Arts Council roundabout. AIG Bashir Ahmed Memon said it had blocked the road to make sure no such situation developed as did during the last session when police officers had quarreled.
Snubbing him, the court said that this move was aimed to protect their IG and home secretary.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2012.
COMMENTS (13)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
I think most of the people are just exaggerating about what the honorable Justice said. He has given a very rationale statement that it clearly violates article 9 of the constitution. That clearly strengthen his position. Now if some plane is being late due to some dignitary then that's a separate issue to be taken in the court of law to be judged. The Justice was being sarcastic when he sardonically said the "The president should buy the road....". Now it is quite obvious that these roads are not for sale, however, one should understand the difference between cynical and declarative statements and should use intellect rather then emotions.
It seems craziness is a contagious disease; very soon the apex court along with its incumbents will have to be quarantined if we do not want this symptom to spread elsewhere!
I am sorry but I would respectfully beg to differ with the Honourable Justice Osmany. The issue is not the road in front of Bilalwal house which, as a public thoroughfare, is not for sale and conversion into private property. The issue is the ease with which a private residence can be declared an official Presidential Residence and millions of rupees of public money spent to barricade and secure it. When the government changes, millions will again be spent to demolish these walls and restore the public thoroughfare. The next person who assumes the Presidency will expect to do the same thing to his house - again the cost of the public exchequer.
What is required is a permanent official Presidential Residence in each major city which is provided all the necessary security and safety that the office of the President requires. The President, whoever he is, vacates his private residence for the term of his tenure and lives either in the Presidency in Islamabad or in these official residences. After all, Mr Obama, before he become president of the United States owned a house in Chicago. He does not stay there when he visits Chicago. He stays in an official residence where his safety and security can be insured without inconveniencing the public. Unfortunately, in our country public inconvenience appears to be inalienable right of the ruling class.
@ahsan
Did you approach courts earlier? Did you approach your MPA? MNA? Or anyone else? Only good for criticism thats all i get from liberals here, ready to jump and criticze everything under the sun.
@Liberal: I fully support your views. They should be heard through their Judgments and not by such silly remarks which they cannot either stop or implement.
talk to my hand
So is the Justice System going to take any action regarding it or is it another one of their "all talk no action" things just to spice up news pages for publications. Expressing "Annoyance" doesn't solve jack. Issue an order get the Bilawal house road opened for regular commuting, AND THEN ISSUE A STATEMENT for the news grabbers.
@Liberal:
kindly let one faction of the society correct itself and then call for correction of the others- if you expect all factions to undergo correction altogether- then it is highly probable that none will be corrected coz u will be giving ppl reason to create chaos rather than be part of the solution. If just ONE flight was delayed coz of the CJP it is not a huge problem- how many people DIE coz of the convoys of ministers and the president and the detours caused by such barricades- sometimes the area around PC and Sheraton is suddenly off limits without warning! Is there any count of the death toll! Kindly stop creating issues where there are none!
the road opposite bilawal house has been a menace- I remember a friend of mine who came for a visit after quite some time- her family has been an avid good supporter of the older Bhutto- making good amends in the education system. They now donot support anyone and are out of anything political. For her it was almost devastating to see a common road blocked like they own it- which brought me to the realization " how used to have we become to such things"- we just don't care - coz we have roti, kapra, makaan to care about- who cares if a road is blocked. That really was an eye opener for me- our problems have worsened and we have immured to them.
Its been four years since we are facing all this torture and now at the end of this government's tenure Supreme Court woke up? Great.
No no..please dont let him buy. It's our money he will spend.
The recent comments made by the judges regarding the security arrangements of government officials and ministers are unfair to say the least. The cavalcade which accompanies the high and supreme court judges should also be commented upon. I personally witnessed a PIA flight from Lahore to Islamabad being delayed because the CJP was late. In this case a fair comment would be that CJP should buy his own aircraft if he wants to travel at his own convenience.Why do the judges make such sarcastic comments during the proceedings thus attracting criticism. They should express their views at length in the judgements which they can support by rationale.
HaHa lol thats what i wanted to say :P ... i live in opposite of bilawal house.. man we are having alot of traffic problems ... hope the road opens soon !!