KARACHI:The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Gulzar Ahmed, on Tuesday ordered the full restoration of the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR).
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by CJP Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Sayed Sajjad Ali Shah and Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, heard the case pertaining to the complete revival of the KCR project at the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry.
The Secretary Pakistan Railways and Deputy Advocate General Sindh appeared before the court. The CJP asked the deputy advocate general Sindh about the situation of the project.
The Deputy Advocate General replied that a local train is running in the city and the work on the underpasses for the KCR and mass transport plan is underway.
The secretary Pakistan Railways appraised the court that KCR could cover 70pc of Karachi, but there were some issues regarding railways land. CJP directed him to talk with the Sindh government, resolve issues and ensure 100 per cent revival of the KCR.
Later, the Supreme Court ordered immediate recovery of the encroached land of the Pakistan Railways. “PR should conduct an anti-encroachment operation itself and recover the illegally occupied land,” the SC order said.
The court directed the Director General (DG) Rangers and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh to provide security to the staff of the Pakistan Railway during the anti-encroachment initiative.
On November 10, the SC issued contempt notices to the Pakistan Railways and the Sindh government over their failure to implement its order regarding the Karachi Circular Railway. The court expressed displeasure over the non-implementation of its order and observed that the authorities did not implement its order in letter and spirit.