KARACHI - The Sindh High Court (SHC) expressed its anger at authorities for demolishing leased properties along Gujjar and Orangi nullahs in violation of the court’s orders.
The bench was informed that leased houses were demolished despite the court’s stay order passed on May 7 and May 18. The SHC then took the contempt notice on record and extended it till after the court’s summer break. Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi asked why were leased houses demolished when the Supreme Court has clearly instructed against it. Leased houses are not encroachments; they cannot be demolished, he added.
The KMC and district administration began the anti-encroachment drive on February 25. Orangi and Gujjar nullahs are two of the three storm water drains that are being widened to ensure the smooth flow of rainwater.
In March, the residents of Karachi’s Orangi Town challenged the anti-encroachment drive along the nullah. Thirty-eight residents filed a petition in the Sindh High Court and said that they have been living in the area since the partition of Bangladesh, adding that they are ‘lawful’ and ‘legal’ owners of their houses.
The petitioners said they were given the lease under the Housing Scheme Act, 1987. They have connections to utilities such as electricity, gas, and water and pay bills.
SHC denies bail to Ali Wazir in hate speech case
The Sindh High Court denied bail to PTM MNA Ali Wazir on Tuesday in a hate speech case.
A two-judge bench was hearing the case. Wazir was arrested in Peshawar on December 16, 2020. He has been accused of hate speech and inciting violence while addressing a rally in Karachi’s Sohrab Goth. An FIR was registered against Wazir on December 7, 2020 at the Sohrab Goth police station.
SHC orders holding
law colleges exams,
deferred till 3 years
The Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Sukkur bench on Tuesday ordered the Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU) to take the law colleges exams in phases.
The high court bench issued orders on a petition filed by law students pleading that the university has failed to take law examinations for last three years.
The Registrar of Shah Abdul Latif University was produced in the court on Tuesday.
“Why the exams not held for last three years,” Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar questioned the Registrar. “The papers were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic,” the university official replied.
“The pandemic situation exists for one year, but the papers have not been taken for the last three years,” the Justice remarked. “You have put the future of hundreds of students at stake,” Justice Gorar said.
“The university should arrange exams twice or three times in a year to complete the students degree course within five years,” the bench ruled.
In the last hearing the court had issued warrants for the arrest of the university’s registrar and ordered his production in court for ignoring the court orders.
The students’ counsel in the previous hearing said that despite orders, the registrar did not appear before the court. All the law colleges affiliated with the university had been closed for past three years and the university had failed to implement the court’s orders, putting at risk future of hundreds of students.
