Governance Issue: Supreme Court Orders Removal of Top Sindh Building Control Officials

The 3-member bench of judges reminded all that since the Supreme Court had been issuing directives, stay orders had no impact.

KARACHI — The Supreme Court on Thursday A) directed Sindh provincial chief minister to immediately remove the acting director general and other top officials of Sindh Building Control Authority (SCBA); B) asked the province’s chief secretary (bureaucrat) to take over SBCA’s affairs, and C) asked the chief minister to overhaul the SBCA and appoint a competent and honest director general and other senior officials who fully obey the law.

The country’s top court also criticized the SCBA over mushroom growth of unauthorized structures in the provincial metropolis and asked the chief secretary to produce before it on the next hearing all approvals given by the authority for construction of buildings, apart from ground-plus-two-story ones.

The apex court observed that apparently the SBCA had compromised on rules and pushed Karachi to the brink of a total disaster, adding that its director general had become a rubber stamp as he was unable to take decisions as per law. It said SBCA officials were allegedly involved in illegal activities and taking bribe and other government officials were also supporting them.

The court was informed that SBCA officials were allegedly taking bribes and allowing construction of multi-story buildings on small plots.

The 3-member bench of judges reminded all that since the Supreme Court had been issuing directives, stay orders had no impact. The bench directed the Sindh advocate general to get related stay orders vacated and also asked the Sindh High Court (SHC) to decide matters in two months.

Based on original report in Dawn