KARACHI: Nasla Tower residents and builder have filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court Karachi Registry, petitioning the apex court to review its orders to demolish the high-rise residential project in the provincial capital.
On June 16, the Supreme Court ordered the authorities to demolish the residential plaza on Karachi’s Sharah-e-Quaideen.
“The allotment of additional land for the project was legal as well,” the petitioners said, maintaining that the land for the project was allotted according to the law. The petitioners moved the court to stop the authorities from demolishing the building.
The high-rise building has 43 luxury apartments. The estimated market cost of each flat is around Rs35 million.
The top court was hearing petitions against encroachments in the city when it ordered the demolition of Nalsa Tower. It ordered the builder to refund its residents in three months.
“The owners of the tower shall refund the price of shops/residential units and other areas sold by them in any form to the registered owners within a period of three months,” the court said in its written verdict.
“In case of delay, the claimants can claim mark-up/profit at the bank rate together with damages.”
There is “no denial” that the plot was expanded illegally, the verdict maintained. The original plot was 780 square yards but the tower was built on 1,044 square yards. “A service road has been encroached on and the tower exists on an area in excess of what was originally leased,” it said.
The Karachi commissioner was instructed to take possession of it, ensure that people living in the building vacate it, and start its demolition. He was asked to submit a compliance report at the next hearing.
