KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly has passed a resolution today, introduced by the provincial government, to protect the demolition of Nasla Tower and other buildings which have been declared illegal by courts.
Two key opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), strongly opposed the the resolution.
The resolution, prepared by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), says that Sindh Assembly must legislate for the regularization and legalization of the buildings that have been declared illegally constructed by the courts.
The resolution says that no citizen should be deprived of their home. It reportedly urges the Supreme Court of Pakistan to review its verdicts. Opposition parties, however, have rejected the proposed resolution.
PTI MPA Khurram Sher Zaman tore up a copy of the resolution and said that government should pay compensation to the Nasla Tower victims. The houses of officers responsible for allowing the illegal construction should be demolished, he said.
Zaman said the government wanted to pain the opposition in a negative light by introducing the legislation which was aimed at “letting the robbers of the hook.”
MQM MPA Mohammad Hussain said they would not support any resolution against the Supreme Court orders.
PPP’s Saeed Ghani said poor people should not be penalized the mistake committed by the MQM when it was in power. The resolution was put to the vote and passed amid uproar from the opposition benches.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan last month ordered the demolition of the Nasla Tower, a multi-storey residential building along with the Shahrae Faisal. It also ordered another residential project, Tejori Heights, to be razed to the ground after it concluded that the builder had encroached Pakistan Railways’ land.
Following the orders by the Supreme Court, the Sindh High Court has also ordered the partial demolition of Makkah Terrace in Saddar and Aliza Arcade in Gulsha-e-Iqbal.
