The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a bailable warrant for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) land director for not appearing before the court despite being ordered to do so.
In the previous hearing the court had directed Najamuz Zaman to prepare a proposal that suggested ways to compensate the respondents in the KMC’s appeal. The court said that despite being issued with a notice, the land director was absent without any intimation. The counsel for the KMC said he had informed Zaman of the hearing but had no idea why the officer was a no-show.
An SHC division bench comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan issued a bailable warrant for Zaman in the sum of Rs25,000 through the relevant SHO, directing him to appear in court on November 2 with an explanation.
The KMC had filed an appeal against the decree passed by the SHC’s single judge in favour of the shopkeepers of the KMC-leased property situated on Abdullah Haroon Road.
The KMC said the shops were constructed on a drain in the Saddar area, and due to the collapse of some portion of the nullah, some shops facing Abdullah Haroon Road had collapsed, while the rest of the property had suffered cracks.
The KMC’s counsel said the respondents were lessees of the shops that had been sold to them through an open public auction held with the approval of the high court.
He said that no cause of action to the respondents had occurred against the KMC, so they were not entitled to any relief.
He had then requested the court to set aside the decree passed by the SHC’s single judge against the KMC.
