The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday suspended the provincial government's notification that handed the Bagh Ibne Qasim over to Bahria Town for 10 years, on the petition of city mayor Waseem Akhtar. The SHC bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Juniad Ghaffar, also issued notices to provincial chief secretary, secretary local government, Bahria Town and advocate general, directing them to file their respective comments by April 18, 2017.
The notification will remain suspended till the next hearing, the judges ruled. Earlier, Mayor Karachi, accompanied by the deputy mayor Arshad Vohra, petitioned the high court requesting it to strike down the notification as according to him it was illegal. He submitted that Bagh Ibne Qasim, the city's iconic park, was in the control of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and local administration has tried its best to maintain it.
The petitioner submitted that the park was spread over 130 acres of land, but not limited to a turtle pond, murals of dinosaurs, 24 washrooms, 20 stone canopies and a large rose garden. It overlooks the 90 meter port fountain of Karachi Port Trust. The park's name commemorates the eighth century Arab conquer Muhammad Bin Qasim, the mayor recalled.
Akhtar informed the court that provincial government through a notification has taken over Bagh Ibne Qasim from KMC and handed it over to real estate tycoon Malik Riaz on March 30. The terms of the agreement directly affect the KMC as the government has totally disregarded the elected mayor and functional local council in haste to handover the park to Bahria Town. This act of the government was the violation of Article 32 of the Constitutions of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.
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