Karachi: The Supreme Court has ordered the commissioner of Karachi to demolish Tejori Heights, a building located in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block’s 13-D near Hassan Square.
At a hearing at the top court’s Karachi Registry Friday, the builder’s counsel, Raza Rabbani, said his client was ready to vacate the building but needed some time to settle things with the allottees.
The court, consequently, instructed the authorities to demolish Tejori Heights within a month. The commissioner of Karachi has been made responsible to oversee all the matters.
Earlier, at a hearing on Thursday, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed gave Rabbani a deadline to present documents in the case by October 29. “This is a never-ending problem in Karachi. If we don’t stop it now, it will continue to thrive,” he remarked.
Tejori Heights was being built on an encroached piece of land that belonged to the Pakistan Railways. Its construction was halted last year in November.
Tejori Heights has 182 luxury apartments. There are 52 five-room Type A apartments which cost Rs20 million each and 130 four-room Type B apartments for Rs13 million each.
The project is owned by Karachi Town Builders & Developers. The proprietor of the company is Javed Iqbal Qureshi, who is the father-in-law of Kamran Tessori, a politician and businessman. Tessori is also a partner in his father-in-law’s construction business.
The Pakistan Railways registered an FIR against Tessori at the Railways Police Station in South District on November 20. The FIR stated that Tessori of Tejori Heights had encroached upon Pakistan Railways land measuring 2,783 square yards.
The Pakistan Railways said the land belongs to them as it falls under Survey No 190 of Deh Gujro in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. But the Karachi Town Builders & Developers say the land belongs to them as it falls under Survey No 653 of Deh Gujro in the Board’s land records.