In a detailed judgement announced here on Thursday, the Supreme Court has confirmed the findings of subordinate courts as well as the Sindh High Court ordering the closure of industrial workshops in the vicinity of residential buildings, a school, church and a hospital located in the vicinity of Eidgah police prefecture in Karachi.
The order spanning 34 pages was made by Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Baghwandas and Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan agreed with the earlier judgements that use of heavy machinery for cutting and rolling of heavy and thick iron places and welding plants for manufacture of heavy containers, water and petrol tanks and poultry feed machines were injurious to life and health of the population in the neighbourhood.
It not only disturbed the peace of "chronic patients of heart, diabetes and tuberculosis, but also the church-goers and the scholars of the nearby school.
The order is aimed at the three steel fabrication plants situations on the crossing of the Baba-e-Urdu and Nishtar Road corner falling in the jurisdiction of the Eidgah Police Prefecture of Karachi.
The Second Bench was assigned the case by the Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui in January last. After detailed hearing in which Syed Haider Ali Pirzada and Muhammad Akram Sheikh instructed by A Aziz Khan, Advocate on Record appeared for the workshop owners while M Bilal, Tariq Bilal and Kokab Iqbal instructed by Chaudhry Akhtar Ali, AoR represented the aggrieved residents of the nearby buildings.
The workshops that the complainants had identified as Mazhar and Brothers, Waseem Brothers, Islamuddin and Sons and Faran Engineering Works and initial complaint against their being a nuisance for the residents and scholars was cleared by the Provincial Advocate General for institution of a suit under Section 91 of the CPC as far back as April, 1983.
The original complainants had alleged that the owners of the workshops had originally used the land on which their undertakings were erected for manufacture of cement blocks for raising a five-story building on rent. Later they brought in heavy steel cutting and welding equipment and started their industrial workshops to fabricate containers, tanks and mixing machinery.
The complaint was also assigned for a report to the Commissioner of Karachi who had confirmed that the noise and vibrations caused by the machinery while in use did create noise and amounted to public nuisance.
It hence was a source of constant danger to the life, health and education of the residents of the locality.
At the initial stages, the Civil Judge had allocated a time-frame for working of the noisy machinery but it was later overturned by the Additional District Judge of Karachi that heard the case as the First Appellate Court and had decreed the suit against the workshop owners. The Sindh High Court later confirmed it.
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