SC orders immediate demolition of Nasla Tower, Tejori Heights

KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon to immediately demolish Nasla Tower and Tejori Heights.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed expressed annoyance over the report submitted by the Karachi commissioner and directed him to immediately raze the tower and present report till afternoon.

“How many buildings have been demolished? How much work has been done? Tell us,” CJP Ahmed asked the Karachi commissioner. The commissioner informed the court that authorities have started the operation to demolish Nasla Tower. The commissioner tendered an apology to the court over the delay.

The court ordered the commissioner to take all the machinery of Karachi and start demolishing the Nasla Tower. The SC also ordered officials to immediately raze the structure on the Tejori Heights site in Gulshan-e-Iqbal 13-D and submit a report.

The chief justice inquired whether the demolition order had been carried out or not following which the commissioner replied that he needed guidance from the court in this regard. The CJP warned him that he could be sent to jail over contempt of court.

The Supreme Court summoned Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani over his opposition to the demolition of unlawfully constructed buildings. Ghani was summoned when the court was hearing a petition against a 16-storey building in Bahadurabad.

The judges took notice of his remarks made earlier in the day when Ghani said that he would resign from his government position but not demolish buildings on the court order. He said such demolition orders often lead to humanitarian crises.

The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on Monday initiated the pre-demolition work of the Nasla Tower on the directives of Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon. However, soon after the commencement of the partial demolition work, Ferozabad Assistant Commissioner Asma Batool stopped it on the grounds of safety concerns. The residential project Nasla Tower is built over 1,121 square yards on Plot No193-A in the Sindh Muslim Cooperative Housing Society or SMCHS at Shahrea Faisal.