SHC summons Karachi administrator in Jahangir Park encroachment case

SHC asks why court's directives to remove illegal encroachments from Jahangir Park have not been complied

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Friday a notice to administrator Karachi to appear on October 12 to explain why the court's directives to remove illegal encroachments from the city’s historic Jahangir Park have not been complied with by his subordinates.

A division bench, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, directed the administrator to appear on October 12 to answer the court's queries.

Jahangir Park, which was gifted to the residents of Karachi by Parsi philanthropist Khan Behramji in 1893 is no longer a leisure site due to illegal encroachments, according to NGO Rah-e-Raast Trust.

Syed Agha Attaullah Shah, the chairperson of the NGO, had taken up the matter of the encroachments over the land of one of the few big parks in the city, with the high court.

He said that illegal constructions, including town offices and shops, had been established on park's land by the private sector as well as the municipality's employees.

Attaullah told the judges that the court had directed the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) authorities to clear the park of unauthorised and illegal constructions but the order has yet to be complied with. Therefore, he pleaded to the court to initiate contempt proceedings.

Further, the SHC bench ordered the KMC authorities to implement the earlier directives by October 12.

Meanwhile, the administrator Karachi was issued a notice to appear to submit a compliance report at the next hearing.