After a police station, KBCA now wants its own court
KBCA wants own court to prosecute people who violate building codes and encroach on land.
KARACHI:
After fighting for and then forming a police station, now the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) wants a court of its own to prosecute people who violate building codes and encroach on land.
The demand for a police station has already been met with severe resistance from the Sindh Advocate-General (AG) but it was eventually set up on July 17 this year.
Now there are challenges to the KBCA’s plea to set up a court of its own. The authority submitted an application to the Sindh High Court (SHC) registrar who referred the matter to SHC Chief Justice (CJ) Sarmad Jalal Osmany. CJ Osmany then converted the application into a petition.
During the petition’s hearing on Thursday, Sindh AG Muhammad Yousuf Leghari was asked by the division bench, comprising CJ Osmany and Justice Salman Hamid, to file comments after he vehemently opposed the request for a special KBCA court.
KBCA chief law officer Shahid Jamiluddin submitted that a summary approved by the chief minister has been awaiting a decision since June 2009 and thus he had moved an application before the registrar to expedite the approval by Chief Justice Osmany. The chief justice expressed surprise at the delay in the decision making and observed that in this case, he would decide the matter using his administrative powers. The AG Sindh, who had waited for the case for more than two hours as the KBCA’s Jamiluddin was busy before the Supreme Court bench, raised a serious objection.
The KBCA chief law officer defended the application and stated that paragraph one of the summary has been notified and implemented, according to which three KBCA officers of grade 19 were given powers of Special Judicial Magistrates but the second para, regarding the special court, was awaiting approval by the chief justice after it was approved by the chief minister.
Eighty per cent of the cases are lying in cold storage, said Jamiluddin before the bench. “Let us begin and even if my [KBCA’s] officer were punished, I would be happy.” The conviction and sentence for violating the Sindh Building Control Ordinance shall start and without this step, the violation of building rules cannot be checked, he said, advocating for an order to establish a KBCA court.
However, AG Sindh Leghari opposed this. “This is not the work of the KBCA [to have a police station and a court].”
Nonetheless, the KBCA’s Jamiluddin argued that this was public-interest litigation. We are not asking for control as a district and sessions judge will run the KBCA court, he said, dispelling the impression given by Leghari. The bench asked the AG Sindh to file comments as this was a case in which two government functionaries were opposing each other.
No FIRs registered
Since it established its own police station, the KBCA has not registered a single FIR so far. Only 20 demolitions and a few buildings have been sealed. But a KBCA public relations officer told The Express Tribune that it was not necessary to register a case against violators because demolition itself was major punishment.
And they have demolished, indeed.
The authority has razed 643 illegal constructions to the ground from January 1 to December 23 this year - the latest demolition taking place on Thursday of plot No. 856 in Mehmoodabad No. 8. The authority also sealed 86 construction sites whose structures were in violation of KBCA by-laws, which included bypassing the mandatory no-objection certificates (NoCs) before starting construction.
But according to officials, many building owners ‘evade’ demolition notices by drawing on influential connections. For its part, however, the authority claims it simply has not had enough of its own police to tackle as many illegal constructions as it would have liked.
Interestingly, the KBCA police is not patronised by the authority itself — there is no special or separate police official. The personnel come from the Capital City Police (CCP) and are regular police officers. In fact, the CCP has extended its operation-based services to KBCA and they have been asked to accompany the KBCA demolition team to give them cover.
The KBCA police officials admitted that the authority has yet to form its own separate police force and a separate station — they have one room in the CCP — and they are waiting for provisions such as a kitchen, conveyance and fuel allowances. “The KBCA police station would perhaps start registering FIRs from January 1, 2011,” they said.
with additional input by irfan aligi
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2010.
After fighting for and then forming a police station, now the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) wants a court of its own to prosecute people who violate building codes and encroach on land.
The demand for a police station has already been met with severe resistance from the Sindh Advocate-General (AG) but it was eventually set up on July 17 this year.
Now there are challenges to the KBCA’s plea to set up a court of its own. The authority submitted an application to the Sindh High Court (SHC) registrar who referred the matter to SHC Chief Justice (CJ) Sarmad Jalal Osmany. CJ Osmany then converted the application into a petition.
During the petition’s hearing on Thursday, Sindh AG Muhammad Yousuf Leghari was asked by the division bench, comprising CJ Osmany and Justice Salman Hamid, to file comments after he vehemently opposed the request for a special KBCA court.
KBCA chief law officer Shahid Jamiluddin submitted that a summary approved by the chief minister has been awaiting a decision since June 2009 and thus he had moved an application before the registrar to expedite the approval by Chief Justice Osmany. The chief justice expressed surprise at the delay in the decision making and observed that in this case, he would decide the matter using his administrative powers. The AG Sindh, who had waited for the case for more than two hours as the KBCA’s Jamiluddin was busy before the Supreme Court bench, raised a serious objection.
The KBCA chief law officer defended the application and stated that paragraph one of the summary has been notified and implemented, according to which three KBCA officers of grade 19 were given powers of Special Judicial Magistrates but the second para, regarding the special court, was awaiting approval by the chief justice after it was approved by the chief minister.
Eighty per cent of the cases are lying in cold storage, said Jamiluddin before the bench. “Let us begin and even if my [KBCA’s] officer were punished, I would be happy.” The conviction and sentence for violating the Sindh Building Control Ordinance shall start and without this step, the violation of building rules cannot be checked, he said, advocating for an order to establish a KBCA court.
However, AG Sindh Leghari opposed this. “This is not the work of the KBCA [to have a police station and a court].”
Nonetheless, the KBCA’s Jamiluddin argued that this was public-interest litigation. We are not asking for control as a district and sessions judge will run the KBCA court, he said, dispelling the impression given by Leghari. The bench asked the AG Sindh to file comments as this was a case in which two government functionaries were opposing each other.
No FIRs registered
Since it established its own police station, the KBCA has not registered a single FIR so far. Only 20 demolitions and a few buildings have been sealed. But a KBCA public relations officer told The Express Tribune that it was not necessary to register a case against violators because demolition itself was major punishment.
And they have demolished, indeed.
The authority has razed 643 illegal constructions to the ground from January 1 to December 23 this year - the latest demolition taking place on Thursday of plot No. 856 in Mehmoodabad No. 8. The authority also sealed 86 construction sites whose structures were in violation of KBCA by-laws, which included bypassing the mandatory no-objection certificates (NoCs) before starting construction.
But according to officials, many building owners ‘evade’ demolition notices by drawing on influential connections. For its part, however, the authority claims it simply has not had enough of its own police to tackle as many illegal constructions as it would have liked.
Interestingly, the KBCA police is not patronised by the authority itself — there is no special or separate police official. The personnel come from the Capital City Police (CCP) and are regular police officers. In fact, the CCP has extended its operation-based services to KBCA and they have been asked to accompany the KBCA demolition team to give them cover.
The KBCA police officials admitted that the authority has yet to form its own separate police force and a separate station — they have one room in the CCP — and they are waiting for provisions such as a kitchen, conveyance and fuel allowances. “The KBCA police station would perhaps start registering FIRs from January 1, 2011,” they said.
with additional input by irfan aligi
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2010.