The Sindh advocate general informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday that the government would reconsider the list that declared Hotel Metropole as protected heritage.
The SHC bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhter, was hearing the petition filed by Karachi Property Investment Company (Pvt) Ltd which cited the City District Government Karachi, Karachi Building Control Authority and chief secretary as respondents and requested the court to direct them to strike down Hotel Metropole as protected heritage site.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the advocate general informed the court that the meeting of technical committee of Sindh’s cultural heritage would be conducted today (Friday) to reconsider the impugned list of protected heritage site. “There is a possibility that immoveable property involved in one or all the petitions may be deleted from the list or the entire list may be revised,” he added.
The court adjourned the hearing till 24th of May 2016. Earlier, the petitioner had submitted that it had acquired ownership of the land and the building belonging to Hotel Metropole in 1967 and many offices had been rented out to different parties. It informed the court that the culture department through a notification had declared 1,061 buildings, including Hotel Metropole, as protected heritage site. “The entire architecture has been demolished or renovated in 2006 and major structure was also demolished by the Karachi Building Control Authority,” the petitioner added. The petitioner submitted that the building had no more archaeological value, so it should not be declared as a protected heritage site.