Sindh High Court Orders De-Sealing of Pre-Partition Shops on Napier Road

Karachi: The Sindh High Court has ordered the de-sealing of shops on Napier Road that were shut down after being declared illegal by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). The shops, according to the petitioners, have existed since before Pakistan’s independence and have not encroached even an inch beyond their original boundaries.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer argued that the SBCA had only recently declared the decades-old shops illegal, despite the adjacent building being over 50 years old as well. The court questioned the SBCA’s delayed action, asking why it took so many years to raise concerns about the legality of the structure.
When the court inquired whether the shop owners had encroached onto the road, the petitioner’s lawyer firmly denied any such encroachment, stating that not even an inch had been extended beyond the original structure.
The court directed the SBCA to decide on the petitioners’ case within three weeks and ordered the immediate de-sealing of the shops.