On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon to “immediately destroy” Nasla Tower and Tejori Heights and submit a report to the court today.
The rulings were given by a three-judge bench led by Pakistan’s Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and including Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed, who was considering a variety of cases involving Karachi’s civic issues. The cases will be heard in the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry until Friday.
The CJP ordered the municipal commissioner to immediately begin razing Nasla Tower using all heavy equipment and machinery at his disposal.
Justice Ahmed ordered the commissioner to “Demolish Tejori Heights today [as well] and submit a report.”
The chief judge enquired at the start of the session if the demolition order had been carried out or not. Memon responded by saying he sought “direction” from the court and that he wanted to say something.
“Cut to the chase, did you demolish the structure or not?” the chief justice asked as he interrogated the commissioner, threatening to imprison him for contempt of court.
Demolition orders
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 judgment directing the builders of Nasla Tower to reimburse the money to registered buyers of residential and commercial units within three months.
Later, the Nasla Tower developer filed a review petition against the June 16 order, which was denied by the Supreme Court last month.
On October 25, the Supreme Court ordered the city commissioner to demolish Nasla Tower using “controlled blasting” within a week and submit a report. Companies were then instructed to submit their respective demolition costs until only two were chosen.
Following that, the district administration served notices on Nasla Tower residents earlier in October, directing them to vacate the 15-story building by October 27 or face coercive action from relevant authorities. By the 28th of October, almost all families had left their 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.
Tejori Heights Tower, meantime, was ordered to be dismantled within four weeks on October 29 and allottees must be refunded within three months by the builders. The commissioner had been requested by the court to guarantee that the demolition and debris collection process was completed within the time frameset.
