The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has withdrawn the Supreme Court's orders for the demolition of illegal constructions in Karachi and has also lifted the ban on the conversion of land.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the court ruled that the earlier order regarding land conversion had gone beyond the limits of judicial authority.
The FCC issued a detailed 10-page written judgement in the case concerning illegal constructions in Karachi. The judgement was written by Justice Aamir Farooq.
In its decision, the court said that building regulations fall under the authority of the provincial government rather than the courts.
It added that the Constitution and the law require the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and the Sindh government to take action against illegal constructions.
The court ruled that both the Sindh government and SBCA officials are legally bound to enforce the law.
The judgement stated that the Supreme Court had been hearing an appeal concerning a single illegally constructed building in Lyari. However, the SC expanded the scope of the case from one building to the whole of Lyari and later to the entire city of Karachi. It also ordered the demolition of illegal marriage halls, shopping centres and markets across the city.
The Constitutional Court further ruled that the Supreme Court had exercised its suo motu powers in the appeal without fulfilling the constitutional requirements.
It also noted that the SC had ordered the demolition of all constructions that were found to be against the Karachi Master Plan.
The court said that demolition orders could not be issued solely on the basis of an SBCA report. It clarified that the Constitutional Court was not declaring any illegal construction to be lawful. Instead, it stated that clear laws and legal procedures already exist for taking action against unlawful buildings and that these must be followed.
The judgement also observed that the original case related only to a single building in Lyari, which, according to the parties involved, had already become ineffective.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori