KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar remarked on Friday that the Sindh province has no sense of discipline.
While hearing a case suo motu case at the SC Karachi Registry, he observed that he might have to stay in the city for as long as six months in order to tend to all the pending court cases.
The case was based on a report published in a local newspaper in 2015, regarding encroachment on the land of the old Ladies Club in Larkana.
The Sindh advocate general informed the court that total land area of Larkana’s Jinnah Garden is 20,000 square yard and Ladies Club is established at 3,000 square yards. He said that National Health Centre, Press Club and government schools are in the Jinnah Garden. He further informed that municipal committee of the city has complete authority to give allotment to anyone they deem fit.
Dr Sabiha Mughal, the Ladies Club chairperson said that in 2004, the government had announced that it will sell the club and the plot to a builder but due to the protests by the civil society and some political parties, the process was stopped well in time.
The CJP questioned if the government officers would sell their own property at such low rates the way they unreasonably allotted the precious public land.
While taking a jibe at the overall system in the province, he said that even the president of US wouldn’t have the authority to allot a road-side cabin to whoever he wanted, but in Sindh, anyone could easily do so.
The CJP responded that nothing can be constructed on parks as they are supposed to be public property. The court directed advocate general Sindh to reinstate the parks in their original state.
The Gomibai Jawaharmal Ladies Club was built by a Hindu deputy collector, who named it after his sister. On January 3, 1934, the club was inaugurated by Mrs RE Gibson, the wife of a senior British bureaucrat. The club has around 107 members and it runs without any financial support from the government. Its governing and management committee manages its affairs with the help of the annual membership fee of Rs4, 000 that each member pays.
