SHC questions levy of parking fee by CBC again

Apex courts had earlier ruled the cantonment boards did not have powers to charge parking fees

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought on Monday replies from the secretaries of defence and law ministries on a petition challenging the by-laws issued by the director-general of the military lands, allowing the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) to levy parking fees in alleged disregard of the apex court’s judgments.

A division bench, headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, also issued notices to the military lands DG and cantonments and the CBC's chief executive officer to file their comments by October 27.

Muhammad Sajjad Haider, a resident of Defence Housing Authority Phase I, had challenged the allegedly illegal levy of parking fees by the CBC, despite the nullification of their powers to recover such fees by the superior courts.

The petitioner's lawyer, Shafi Muhammad, said the director-general of the military land and cantonments had on June 24 this year, issued an SRO No. 627(1)2015, wherein the by-laws for regulating the parking of  vehicles in the cantonment's jurisdiction were introduced.

"The cantonment has no authority to issue such a notification as the same is in total contradiction of the order passed by this court in the judgment given in the case of Raj Kumar alias Raja Gul and others versus the Hyderabad Cantonment Board and others," the lawyer argued, referring to an SHC judgment rendered in 2006.

He added that this judgment had subsequently been affirmed by the Supreme Court, which had dismissed the Hyderabad Cantonment Board's appeal on May 20 this year.

Advocate Shafi Muhammad said that the purpose of introduction of these by-laws by the military lands DG was apparently disregarding the judgments of the SHC and the SC, which could not be done under the garb of issuance of a notification. He alleged that none of the cantonment boards in Karachi and the Hyderabad were complying with the apex court’s judgments. Rather, the cantonment boards were continuously charging the parking fee within their respective jurisdictions. This is a violation of the judgments rendered by the apex court, he added. The petitioner's lawyer stated that another petition challenging the powers of the CBC to charge parking fee was already pending disposal with the SHC, which has issued an interim order, restraining the board from charging the fee till further orders.

The court was pleaded to declare the charging of parking fee illegal and a violation of the superior courts' judgments.

"Point raised requires consideration," observed the two judges, who issued notices to the secretaries of the defence and law ministries and the CBC's chief executive officer for October 27.

The deputy attorney general was also issued notice to file replies on behalf of the ministries and the board by the next date of hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2015.