KARACHI: The Honorable Sindh High Court (SHC) has suspended the impugned judgment passed by Chairman Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Siddique ul Farooq in Constitution Petition No. D-202 of 2018 filed by KCCI against ETPB’s judgment issued on 25.11.2017 in which it was held that KCCI Building is an Evacuee Trust Property.
While suspending the judgment passed by Chairman ETPB, the Honorable High Court has passed orders for issuance of notices to all Respondents including tenants who were joined as party by Chairman ETPB for next date of hearing which has been fixed for January 23, 2018.
Meanwhile, Chairman Businessmen Group & former president Karachi Chamber Siraj Kassam Teli and President KCCI Muffasar Atta Malik, while expressing satisfaction over the abovementioned SHC’s order, said that a false and bogus Reference about the ownership of KCCI’s Building was filed by the Deputy Administrator ETPB in connivance with tenants which was heard by Chairman ETPB, who grossly misused the powers, continued to favor the illegal occupants during case proceedings being the members of same political party, PML-N, and issued ETPB’s judgment against KCCI, which was immediately challenged at the Honorable High Court of Sindh.
They said that some of the offices, which are Karachi Chamber’s property, remain illegally occupied since many decades. These illegal occupants have expanded from just two to three rooms to 12, 15 and even 17 rooms by illegally carrying out deals with those individuals who vacated their offices during the last 40 years. Hence, the Karachi Chamber decided to initiate legal action against the illegal occupancy and numerous cases were currently being heard at the court whereas some of them have been decided in favor of KCCI, they added.
They said that the building belongs to KCCI members and the members of managing committee & office bearers, the elected representatives of Businessmen Group/ Business & Industrial Community, who are the custodians of this property and they will fight for it till the last resort.