The Supreme Court has ordered the authorities to demolish Aladdin Shopping Mall and Pavilion End Club in Karachi within two days.
In a hearing on Monday, the top court declared the buildings illegal. “The land was unlawfully converted into a commercial area,” Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said.
He instructed the police and Rangers to begin the operation immediately. “Permission for commercial activity on land allotted to parks won’t be given at any cost,” the chief justice added.
The court ordered the government to vacate the UBL Complex on Rashid Minhas Road and 36,000 plots in China Cutting. Encroachments on Kashmir Road have to be removed too.
The chief justice reached Karachi Monday morning.
Earlier in the day, the court asked the authorities to continue the anti-encroachment drive along stormwater drains in Karachi.
“Encroachments will have to be removed in any case,” Justice Ahmed ruled. He said the operation could not be stopped.
Prior to the hearing, the Gujjar nullah operation affectees held a demonstration outside the Supreme Court Karachi Registry.