SC constitutional bench seeks report on Karachi forest land encroachments case

The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ordered the Sindh government to submit a detailed report on the Karachi forest land encroachments case at the next hearing, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.  

Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi remarked that the provincial government should tell how much land, out of a total of 221 acres, it had managed to retrieve from the encroachers. 

The state counsel informed the bench that the case pertained to a dispute over 63 acres of land. 

“What is the situation with respect to the remaining 158 acres of forest land,” the judge asked.  

The petitioner informed that part of the land was presently under cultivation, while the remaining part had been occupied by a housing society. 

Bench disposes of plea concerning KP-FATA merger

Also on Wednesday, the bench disposed of the petition filed by former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan regarding the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after counsel for the former prime minister told the bench that the matter had been resolved in the KP Assembly; so, therefore, there was no need for a hearing by the court.   

A five-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard the case.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori