KARACHI. After the Nasla Tower, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the demolition of the multi-storey Tejori Heights in Karachi.
The under-construction building is being erected on a piece of land claimed by the Pakistan Railways and allocated for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) heard a petition in the Karachi Registry of the Supreme Court regarding the transfer of lands of Tejori Heights. The judge remarked that this building is illegal and documents have been altered. The top judge remarked that the building has also been vacated, adding that it may have been changed in government departments but the law has not been implemented.
Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan asked whether the land belongs to the railways or not is not being decided but the land does not belonged to government agencies and has not beentransferred incorrectly.
The court inquired as to how the lands of Tajuri Heights were transferred from one survey number to another. Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan remarked that the treasury heights were illegally transferred from Survey No. 190 to 188 and called the procedure criminal.
The Chief Justice said that the building was illegal and the documents were altered. The Supreme Court remarked asked the defense lawyer to ask his client and demolish the building yourself or the ourt will give the order.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked that the court would order the demolition of the structure of the Tejori Heights built so far with a detonator. The proceedings were adjourned till tomorrow (Friday) when a report will be presented on the owner’s response to the demolition of the Tejori Heights building.
Tejori Heights sealed
On Monday, the Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) also heard the case pertaining to the construction of Tejori Heights, which is being contested on the grounds that the land for the building belongs to the Pakistan Railways (PR).
The lawyer representing Tejori Heights said that the court had issued directives for sealing the project in November 2020 and a review petition had been filed against the order. He added that the Pakistan Railways had also filed a civil suit pertaining to the matter in the Sindh High Court. The court adjourned the hearing.
In January this year, then Karachi commissioner Navid Shaikh ordered sealing of Tejori Heights and brought construction to a halt. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed had issued the order, directing relevant authorities to restore the KCR completely.
The bench had instructed that all encroachments and illegal occupations from the KCR land must be removed. The counsel representing the railways department had informed the court that the KCR land near Gillani Station had been illegally occupied for the construction of Tejori Heights. He said the department had filed a report in that regard before the Sindh High Court’s nazir.
The counsel for Tejori Heights had contended that his clients had filed an objection over the railway department’s report. The top judge asked whether the KCR will be built if a building has been built. He remarked that no construction will be tolerated on the KCR land. The bench had directed the builder of Tejori Heights to stop its construction and the Karachi commissioner to take over the project.
