Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab has said the “unlawful sealing” of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s property Cotton Exchange Building may have the impact of not only causing losses to the KMC but also to thousands of people who are involved in lawful trading.
Sending a letter to the director of the Federal Investigation Agency with regard to the sealing of the Cotton Exchange Building, the mayor said the FIA should not have proceeded unilaterally and hastily in the sealing the building, which is a municipal property, and it should have first checked all information and record.
He said he held a meeting with representatives of the Karachi Cotton Association along with KMC land department officials and it was confirmed by the land department that the property is municipal land belonging to the KMC and it was transferred in favour of the KCA on July 31, 1936 and later renewed by the KMC.
The mayor said the contention of the Evacuee Trust Board with regard to the ownership of the property does not have any factual or legal basis. He said the KMC and KCA had also pending litigation with regard to various charges and the ETB did not raise any claim for the property.
Wahab said it is his obligation to protect the KMC property and look after the institution contributing in the national economy. He added that the KCA plays a pivotal role in the cotton economy of Pakistan and the entire trade, including banks, insurance, exports, ginners and growers, is dependent on its daily price fixation mechanism under its approved regulations.
The KCA had earlier assailed the FIA action in the Sindh High Court with regard to the sealing of the Cotton Exchange Building by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) but later withdrew the petition as not pressed.
The KCA submitted that the pre-Partition-era building was not an evacuee property as per Section 3 of the Evacuee Trust Properties (management and disposal) Act 1975 till 1957 and that the property cannot be declared as evacuee property. The association said the building was purchased by the association in 1936 and remains in its name to date as on record of the rights.
The KCA said that due to the sealing of the building, the KCA is not in a position to fulfil its responsibilities, creating severe disruption in the marketing of cotton and causing huge financial losses to the tune of about $1.5 billion to the country. It urged the authorities to de-seal the building immediately to pull out the cotton economy from a deep crisis.
