The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and others on the petitions challenging the FIA’s criminal proceedings against Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) officials over the illegal possession of the Karachi Cotton Exchange (KCE) building and eviction orders.
The KMC, the KCA and others have challenged the FIA’s proceedings on the complaint of the ETPB, the sealing of the premises and the eviction orders.
The court had earlier reserved its judgement on the petitions after hearing the counsel, but the matter was relisted again after the FIA officials’ statement that they were treating the FIR as an inquiry and following the procedure under the FIA Act.
The court said that since other petitions were also pending with the constitutional bench-I on the same issue, it is considered appropriate that the present petitions be reheard to ensure comprehensive adjudication in the light of such development.
The FIA had registered a case against officials of the KCA, the KMC and the ETPB for “illegally occupying, leasing and profiting from the evacuee’s land in Karachi for decades”.
The petitioners’ counsel said that neither the ETPB nor the FIA has jurisdiction over the KCE building that had been lawfully leased to the KCA through a registered conveyance deed on July 22, 1936, and the lease is valid until 2081.
He said the evacuee property has become a provincial subject after the 18th amendment, and the Sindh Evacuee Act has repealed the Evacuee Trust Properties Act, 1975, to the extent of Sindh divesting the federal government’s and the ETPB’s authority.
The counsel said that no property can be declared evacuee after January 1, 1957, under the Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act, 1957. He said the property in question has never been abandoned, and has remained continuously occupied since before Partition, bearing no evacuee or trust character.
He said that any dispute over the building would fall within the domain of the civil court. The impugned actions were taken without issuing any notice or hearing, and this amounts to malice and fraud upon the statute, he added.
He also said the FIA’s involvement in the matter is without jurisdiction and lacks any nexus with federal affairs, causing serious prejudice to the petitioner and serious disruption to the cotton trading sector.
The ETPB’s counsel said the premises had been sealed by the ETPB, adding that the FIA had provided assistance to the ETPB. The traders’ counsel requested the court to direct the authorities to unseal the premises so that traders can carry out their businesses.
The court had already issued an interim order allowing KCA officials to access the sealed building, and restrained the FIA from causing any obstruction in their access.
Traders had also obtained an interim injunction against any coercive action by the FIA against the KCA and its members with regard to the anti-money laundering inquiry. The court, however, directed the FIA to proceed with the matter in accordance with the law.
The FIA had sent notices to all compliance heads and commercial banks to seek details of the assets and banks accounts of the petitioners under the anti-money laundering law.
According to the FIA notices, certain officials of the ETPB, the KMC and the KCA were involved in illegal occupation of the Evacuee Trust Property Building, commonly known as the KCE building, on II Chundrigar Road by preparing fake ownership and tenancy agreements, causing a loss of Rs15,943,170,000 to the national exchequer.
