The Supreme Court’s (SC) Karachi Registry on Monday issued notices to the Master Plan Department, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the Clifton Cantonment Board, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

During the hearing of the petition challenging the commercialization of Karachi’s Chaudhry Khaleequz Zaman Road, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa also sought the record pertaining to the road’s commercialization at the next hearing, scheduled to be held on April 25.

The CJP also directed the petitioner to produce the record of the payments he had made under the head of the building’s commercialization.

The chief justice asked the counsel for the builder to whom the fee of the plot’s commercialization had been paid.

The lawyer replied that it had been paid to the Master Plan Department.

“Where are the receipts?” Justice Isa asked.

The lawyer replied that besides the Master Plan Department, the amount had been paid to the KMC and others. “We will present the receipts,” he assured.

The chief justice said he did not want to hear such excuses. “The builder has erected a 22-storey structure and you people don’t have the receipts,” he wondered.  

He went on to say he was fully aware of illegal activities place in Karachi. “If you have done no wrong, then present receipts in the court,” the CJP said.

Abdur Rehman Advocate, the petitioner’s lawyer, argued that Chaudhry Khaleequz Zaman Road could not be commercialized.

Abdus Sattar, a resident of the area, had initially filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the road’s commercialization. And when the high court rejected his plea, he approached the apex court.  

Reporter: Mumtaz Jamali