Supreme Court Orders Removal Of Marriage Halls From CAA Land

The Supreme Court has ordered the removal of marriage halls from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) land, and has directed that the airport land be used only for its intended purpose.

The court has also directed the Board of Revenue to submit a complete report on illegal occupation and encroachments on state land in Sindh.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, was hearing a petition on encroachments on government land.

The court asked the revenue official about the steps taken to protect the revenue record from getting tampered with. The court was told that 95 percent of the land record had been computerised and uploaded on the website. The revenue official said 400 suspected revenue record entries had been blocked.

On a query about removal of encroachments from state land, the revenue officer said that the encroached land was retrieved with the assistance of the Irrigation and Forest departments. The court directed the Revenue Department to submit a report to that effect. The court observed that encroachments on the state land was a serious problem.

The chief justice also inquired from the CAA director general about the purpose of additional land and the utilisation of previously-allotted land. The court asked the CAA officer as to why the CAA land was being used for running marriage halls.

The court ordered the removal of marriage halls from the CAA land and directed that the land shall be used only for the purpose of airport. The court expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of CAA and observed that the Karachi airport was in a dilapidated condition and all the international traffic was diverted from Karachi.

The CAA counsel submitted that 209 acres of the CAA land was being illegally allotted. The senior member Board of Revenue said that NA-class land has been surveyed and demarcated. He said that previously the land was not allotted on market price.

The court also issued notices to KMC and others on an application against the commercial use of the Askari Park at old Sabzi Mandi. The applicant submitted that the park administration was using the park on commercial basis and shops were allotted to private persons.