SHC directs Mohatta Palace to be turned into medical college

KARACHI - The Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered on Wednesday for Qasar-e-Fatima which is commonly known as Mohatta Palace to be turned into a medical college. A plaque should be installed with the names of legal heirs on it, the court said. A trust should be established to look after the affairs of the medical college and the hospital, the court said. All the parties have agreed to this. Some names have been suggested to run the trust, including Dr Abdul Bari of Indus Hospital, SIUT’s Dr Adib Rizvi, Justice (retd) Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice (retd) Fahim Siddiqui. The court has ordered the authorities to contact these people and acquire their consent to include them on the trust. The development came during the hearing of the case of the distribution of Quaid-e-Azam and Fatima Jinnah’s residence. The court also asked for a record of all the activities and income generated from Qasar-e-Fatima in the last 30 years. Mohatta Palace is a declared heritage site. The palace was built in the late 1920s, two decades before the partition of India. The palace was designed by Agha Ahmed Hussain, the first known Muslim architect of the sub-continent of the 24 architectural firms in the 20th century. It is built on an area of 18,500 sq ft and the front area is trimmed with beautiful windows, spandrels, stone brackets, balustrades with floral motifs, domes, and exquisite railings.

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