KARACHI: The Supreme Court has kept the Sindh government from creating third party interests or constructing any type of building or structure on two vacant lots until the issue of expanding the SHC building and parking spaces for lawyers and plaintiffs is resolved.
The interim order comes at the request of the Sindh High Court Bar Association for the expansion of the high court and the allocation of further space to park lawyers and plaintiffs’ vehicles.
The bench of three SC members, led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, was informed that there were two empty plots on the left and right of the SHC building in Karachi and the Sindh government was planning to build a Sindh Secretariat block there.
The Court observed that the current SHC building in Karachi had become unable to accommodate the power of seated judges and saw an increase in the power of SHC judges in the future, there was no room for expansion within the building in Karachi; Instead, the expansion must be carried out on the available land, which is located on the right and left side of the building. The court observed that the parking problem for lawyers and claimants was also manageable.
The court observed that access to justice is a fundamental right of society and that right also includes the provisions of the court. The court observed that the Sindh government was bound under the Constitution to make provisions for the expansion of the SHC in Karachi and provide land for it.
The court observed that it was clear that the SHC in Karachi could not be moved from where it is now and that vacant land around it was the only option in which a new SHC building block in Karachi could be built and provision of vehicle parking for lawyers and plaintiffs to be created.
The Court observed that there appeared to be no choice but to retain the two parcels of land on the right and left of the SHC building for further expansion and in this case the Sindh government had to fulfill the constitutional mandate for this provision. The court, meanwhile, prohibited the Sindh government from creating third party interests or constructing any type of building or building on two parcels of land near the SHC building until the issue of expanding the SHC building in Karachi as well as parking lots for lawyers and plaintiffs was resolved.