The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the law enforcement agencies to continue the operation for removal of illegal barriers installed at various streets and roads in Karachi and submit a compliance report.
A division bench, headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, disposed of three identical petitions against installation of barriers on the city’s thoroughfares. At the outset of the hearing, the judges were informed that the law enforcement agencies have taken massive action for removal of the barriers following the orders of the Supreme Court and this court.
The commissioner submitted a report showing details of the roads which were blocked for the security purposes. The identical petitions were filed by Barrister Rashid Akhtar, Rana Faizul Hassan, a civil rights campaigner and Raah-e-Raast Trust’s Agha Attaullah Shah.
The petitioners submitted that barriers were placed across large number of streets of Karachi restricting freedom of movement of citizens, law enforcers and the emergency workers.
They stated that recently this city witnessed 70 per cent of roads being blocked by placing barriers or other hurdles by residents of areas including Jamshed Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, North Nazimabad Town, Korangi Town, where a state within state has been created.
They said this situation being illegal caused a kind of anarchy in the city. On the pretext of security measures walls have been raised along the streets leading to the Bilawal House that has caused citizens to suffer. The petitioners pleaded the court to direct the respondents to remove barriers from the streets and roads.
