In response to a Supreme Court ruling, Karachi police filed a case against the function Object() { [native code] } of Nasla Tower and officials from several civic agencies and departments on Monday.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered police and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to take departmental action and file separate cases against the building’s owners, officials from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), the Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, and other government departments for approving the structure in violation of the law.
The bench found that the SBCA officials had broken the law, and that each of them was subject to not only departmental investigations but also prosecution under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The bench had ordered that two separate first information reports (FIRs) be filed at the ACE and police station concerned against the SBCA officials and other government officials involved, as well as for the ACE and the DIG-East to file compliance reports within one week.
On Monday, Ferozeabad police station Station House Officer Muhammad Khushnud Javed filed a FIR under sections 34 (common intention), 161 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in relation to an official act), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 218 (public servant framing an incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture), and 408 (criminal breach of trust).
According to the FIR, which Dawn.com has a copy of, the city commissioner was instructed to submit a report to the court following an investigation by various departments into the tower.
“The aforementioned plots were checked from various departments by the Karachi commissioner, and it was discovered that the aforementioned plot [for Nasla Tower] is 780 square yards in the SMCHS (Sindh Muslim Cooperative Housing Society) paperwork,” the FIR stated.
It went on to say that the society had allotted 780 square yards to the owner/builder, Abdul Qadir, who had erected Nasla Tower on 1,121 square yards — illegally building on 341 square yards of a service road — and sold flats and shops to people in collusion with his construction partners and officials from SMCHS, SBCA, Master Plan Department (MPD), and other departments.
According to the report, the highest court has ordered the DIG East to file a case against everyone involved in the Nasla Tower discrepancies, including those involved in the allotment, building, and mapping. According to the FIR, the building was built with “mala fide intent and complicity of relevant departments” as evidenced by the investigation of records.
According to the FIR, a complaint was filed against Abdul Qadir, his accomplice builders, the SBCA chairman and secretary who awarded the land, SMCHS officials, MPD director and deputy director, their officials, and those of other departments participating in the plan as a result of the court order.
Nasla Tower has been ordered to be demolished.
On June 16, a three-judge SC bench, headed over by the CJP, ordered the 15-story Nasla Tower to be demolished for intruding on property designated for a service road.
On June 19, the court issued a comprehensive judgement directing the builders of Nasla Tower to reimburse the money to registered buyers of residential and commercial units within three months.
Nasla Tower’s function Object() { [native code] } later filed a review appeal against the June 16 order, which the Supreme Court dismissed last month.
On October 25, the Supreme Court ordered the municipal commissioner to demolish Nasla Tower in a week using “controlled blasting” and produce a report. Companies were then instructed to submit their demolition charges until just two were chosen.
Residents of Nasla Tower received letters from the district administration earlier in October, instructing them to remove the 15-story building by October 27 or risk coercive action from appropriate authorities. By the 28th of October, practically all of the families had moved out of their separate apartments.
The municipal administration then petitioned the Supreme Court for directives to complete the demolition of Nasla Tower, after one business requested Rs220 million for controlled implosion while the other offered a free-of-charge service by mechanical means.
After the apex court scolded the Karachi commissioner for failing to demolish the skyscraper, work to demolish the structure began in earnest on Nov 24.
