In a major development, the Sindh High Court on Wednesday allowed the Karachi Cotton Exchange’s (KCE) officials to access the sealed cotton exchange building premises and restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from causing any obstruction in their access.
The direction came on a petition of the KCE which challenged the eviction letter, sealing order and call up notice by the FIA with regard to possession of the building.
The FIA had registered a case against officials of the Karachi Cotton Exchange Association, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) for allegedly illegally occupying, leasing and profiting from the evacuee’s land in Karachi for decades.
The petitioner’s counsel Shamail Sikandar submitted that neither the ETPB nor the FIA had jurisdiction over the cotton exchange building which stood lawfully leased to the petitioner through a registered conveyance deed on July 22, 1936, which was valid till 2081.
He submitted that the evacuee property had become a provincial subject after the 18th amendment and the Sindh Evacuee Act had repealed the Evacuee Trust Properties Act, 1975, to the extent of Sindh divesting the federal government and ETPB authority.
The counsel said that no property could be declared evacuee after January 1, 1957 under the Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act 1957. He said that the property in question was not abandoned and had remained continuously occupied since before the partition, and this bore no evacuee or trust character. He said that any dispute over the building would fall within the domain of the civil court.
He submitted that impugned actions were taken without issuing any notice or hearing and this amounted to malice and fraud upon the statute.
He said the FIA’s involvement in the matter was without jurisdiction and lacking any nexus with federal affairs causing serious prejudice to the petitioner and serious disruption to the cotton trading sector.
A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that to examine whether the actions of the FIA and ETPB were without jurisdiction and in violation of constitutional guarantees and applicable law, notices be issued to federal and provincial law officers.
In the meantime, the SHC ordered that no coercive action would be taken against the petitioners’ office bearers, officials and members as well as tenants and occupants of the cotton exchange building till the next date of hearing.
The high court allowed the KCE officials’ access to the premises and restrained the FIA from causing any obstruction.
The SHC directed the investigation officer of the FIA to appear before the court and assist the court in the matter on the next date of hearing.
It is pertinent to mention that the ongoing legal battle for ownership of the KCE building between the KMC and ETPB had deepened further when the KMC also obtained a restraining order from the SHC against any coercive action by the FIA and EPTB with regard to criminal proceedings and eviction orders.
