Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on Wednesday expressed anger over the Karachi administration’s failure to carry out orders given by the Supreme Court regarding the demolition of Nasla Tower.
Karachi Commissioner, Iqbal Memon, was admonished by the CJP for failure to carry out court orders. Justice Gulzar told the commissioner that contempt of court proceedings could be initiated against him for repeatedly ignoring court orders.
At the beginning of the proceeding being held at the Karachi registry of the Supreme Court, the CJP asked the commissioner about progress regarding the demolition work. Upon receiving the reply that the operation was underway, the chief justice expressed anger and told the commissioner that he could be sent to jail for not complying with court orders.
The CJP then directed Memon to use all the machinery and equipment available and ‘immediately demolish’ Nasla Tower. The chief judge asked the commissioner to submit a report in the court by the afternoon.
A Supreme Court bench had on June 16 ordered the demolition of the Nasla Tower for encroachment on public land. The court had also ordered the owner of the tower to refund the amount obtained from residents and commercial unit buyers.
Following up, in October the court ordered that ‘controlled blasting’ should be used to demolish the building. The authorities vacated the building in late October following the order.
The work on demolishing the tower has now begun. Local authorities had earlier paused the process due to safety concerns.
