New Sindh Assembly building: ‘The govt has taken over our property’

Petitioners claim an official sent them a notice to give up land in 15 days.

KARACHI: The owners of the land next to the Sindh Assembly building have gone to court over the government’s attempt to acquire their property.

According to a notification issued on December 13, the deputy commission South asked the owners to hand over 2,280 square yards on MR Kiyani Road for the construction of the assembly’s new building. He gave them 15 days to give up the land without offering any compensation, said Rangoonwala Foundation’s representative, Muhammad Ali Ganny.

The representative said the land belongs to the federal government and the Military Estates Officer leased it to the petitioners till September 28, 2024. “The impugned letter for land acquisition is illegal, because the provincial government has no authority over the federal government’s land.” Ganny told the judges that the land owners, most of whom are women, met the authorities and told them they are not willing to offer their land for the project. “Upon refusal, the deputy commissioner issued the land acquisition order to forcibly usurp our land,” the petitioner alleged.



The Rangoonwala Foun-dation, along with the land owners, cited the Military Estates Officer, Karachi, the Saddar deputy district officer of revenue, the deputy commissioner South and the Sindh Assembly secretary as respondents. They asked the court to suspend the land acquisition order and grant temporary stay till the final disposal of the petitioner.

On Friday, the petitioners moved an application, seeking urgent hearing of the matter. As the judges took up the case, federal law officer Ashfaq Ahmed Tagar requested for time to receive replies of the government departments.

Justice Maqbool Baqir, who headed the bench, directed him to file the replies and adjourned hearing for a date to be notified later.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2012.