Prime property: Lawyers oppose renting out high court premises

The SHC ran advertisements calling for bids from those interested in running the cafeteria.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) on Wednesday opposed the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision to rent out some portions of the new block of its building for commercial purposes.

On June 26, the SHC ran newspaper advertisements calling for bids from contractors interested in running the cafeteria, book shops and courier services on rental basis in the new block of the SHC building.

The bar association passed a resolution stating that all the rent would be paid to the association, as it was the only source of income for the body which has no other resources.

The resolution said that the high court is ‘a creature of the constitution’, which does not permit it to, in any manner, enter into any form of commercial transactions.

It further read that since rent will be charged and paid to the high court it is termed as a commercial transaction. It claimed that the provincial government has constructed the building which was given to the high court for judicial work.

The association also opposed the high court’s directives to vacate the premises where the bar room is presently located, claiming that it enjoys historic importance as the lawyers movement for the restoration of the judicial and reinstatement of the judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf kicked off from there.

The association opposed the  commercial activity for the income of the high court. The body has demanded the high court to withdraw the tender notices for renting out the premises, which should be rented out by the SHCBA.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2014.