KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices on Thursday to the chief secretary and the local government secretary of Sindh and others in a petition challenging the provincial government's decision of carving a seventh district out of Karachi and sought replies in the next hearing of the case.

A division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, issued the orders while hearing the petition filed by a PTI MNA, Aamir Liaquat Hussain, challenging the formation of Keamari district.

During the hearing, the petitioner's lawyer placed on record a notification regarding the creation of the Keamari district.

In the earlier hearing of the case, the bench had turned down a request by the petitioner to issue notices on his petition, saying it can't do so until the notification is submitted in the court.

"Karachi used to be a district and then was divided into four districts. Malir district was carved out of it and Korangi was later given the status of a district and now Keamari has been declared the seventh district. We have to see what illegal act was committed," Justice Mazhar remarked.

Aamir Liaquat stated in his petition that the PPP-led provincial government's move to create the Keamari district by bifurcating Karachi's West district was a biased act. It didn't even take the local government into confidence on the creation of the new district, he added. He requested the court to declare such a move illegal.

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to implement the orders of the Supreme Court (SC) vis-a-vis billboards in the metropolis.

A division bench of the SHC ordered that under the orders of the apex court, all billboards should be removed from public properties as well as directed the cantonment board and private sector to act upon the orders of the top court while hearing the petition regarding implementation of SC's orders about billboards.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020