ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday cancelled allotment of the 200-acre Gutter Baghicha land to the employees of KMC Cooperative Society. 

A two-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed conducted hearing of the case pertaining to land allotment to KMC employees. 

The Court directed the Administrator KMC to immediately recover the encroached land. It declared the Sindh government’s approval for the construction of the society as illegal. It noted that the approval seemed to be given by the section officer on behalf of the provincial government. “There is no mention of the competent authority in it,” it added. 

Justice Gulzar said that according to the law the land could be given only for the purpose of educational, religious, and welfare. He said, “Giving the land to a housing society does not serve any [of the above] purposes.” 

The court observed that the Cooperative Society is neither a person, nor organisation or government department. Giving land to the Housing Society is not for welfare purpose, it added. 

The cooperative society lawyer said that the KMC had allotted the land to 80 percent of its employees, and over 300,000 people are living in the society. He requested the bench to think of the widows and their young children. 

The top court replied that it has to take into account the basic rights of the people of Karachi. It also said, “Widows are getting their dues in the form of pensions.” The KMC lawyer argued that the amount is not sufficient for them to build a house. 

The Chief Justice said that societies of several departments including railways have been razed and the KMC has no authority to give land to its employees. He questioned, “Can we (judges) give the Supreme Court land to its employees?” Then he said; “No because the land can only come to use to the court itself. Not even the judges.” 

On the last hearing, the chief justice had directed the authorities to immediately restore Gutter Baghicha and remove all the encroachment construction on the land.  

According to Shehri, an NGO, the KMC Officers Cooperative Housing Society (KMC OCHS) illegally secured 200 acres for itself. In 1993 it filed a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution against the conversion of Gutter Baghicha amenity land to industrial, residential, and commercial use. 

In March 2020, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation announced that it had retrieved 362 acres of government land from grabbers. The statement, ironically, claimed that the land belonged to the KMC Officers Society and City Park located near Gutter Baghicha in Old Golimar in District West.