The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) to ensure that no plot is allotted to someone who is not a member of the KDA Officers Cooperative Housing Society and the society is discharging its functions strictly in accordance with the society rules and KDA policy.
The direction came on a petition of Mohammad Ajmal Khan and others who had challenged the allotment of 5.46 acres of land adjacent to south-east side of the housing society in Gulshan-e-Iqbal stating that it was meant for a KDA pipe factory.
A counsel for the petitioner submitted that the KDA had handed over a valuable state land to the housing society through letters on May 31, 2008 and June 5, 2008 in complete violation of the KDA laws and rules.
He submitted that the land was reserved for the pipe factory and was a state land, therefore, it could not be allotted to the respondents except by way of public auction. He said the allotment of land was illegal, therefore by way of indulgence the same may be set aside.
A counsel for the KDA Officers Cooperative Society submitted that the land was allotted to the society pursuant to its approval by the KDA board of governors strictly in accordance with the law and applicable rules.
He contended that the petitioners had no locus standi to file this petition and prayed for its dismissal. The KDA’s counsel submitted that the land was allotted to the society by following the KDA (Disposal of Land) Rules, 1971 and the allotted land did not form part of the pipe factory but the same was situated adjacent to the society and pipe factory.
A division bench of the high court comprising Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar and Justice Nisar Ahmed Bhanbhro after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that the KDA had made rules for the disposal of land for development, i.e., the KDA (Disposal of Land) Rules, 1971 and under such rules, the KDA was empowered to allot plots for residential purposes.
The SHC observed that the petitioners’ contention that the subject plot was a state land and the plots were reserved for the pipe factory was not substantiated from the record as no document evidencing the status of plot reserved for the pipe factory had been placed.
The high court observed that the petitioners had even failed to demonstrate how their fundamental rights were put in stake due to the allotment of the plots to the KDA Officers Housing Society.
Dismissing the petition, the SHC directed the KDA to ensure that no plot was allotted to a non-member and the society was discharging its functions strictly in accordance with the society rules and KDA policy.
