SC directs govt to resolve dispute with shopkeepers over historic club

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) directed on Thursday the provincial government to resolve a dispute with shopkeepers on the ownership of five acres of land belonging to the Gomibai Jawaharmal Ladies Club, Larkana, which is a heritage site.

Headed by Justice Mushir Alam, the three-member bench gave the government two months to resolve the matter during the hearing of suo motu proceedings that had been initiated after the publication of a story in The Express Tribune in February, 2015 that said the Larkana’s ladies club had lost a portion of its land to the land mafia. Then chief justice of Pakistan, Nasirul Mulk, had ordered the court office to register the matter as a human rights case.

The Express Tribune report said the ladies club was a significant part of Larkana’s heritage and had hosted many famous guests. The club was also a home to cultural activities organised by Hindus, Christians and Muslim women before Partition.

The club was built by a Hindu deputy collector, who named it after his sister. On January 3, 1934, the club was inaugurated by RE Gibson, the wife of a senior British bureaucrat. The club had around 107 members and ran without any financial support from the government.

Though the land is the property of the district government, the government had decided in 2004 to sell it to a builder. However, the idea was abandoned when members of the club formed a citizens’ action forum and launched a campaign against the decision.

By February, 2015, three acres of the club had been occupied by the land mafia, who had set up a hotel at the site. It was also reported that the land grabbers had plans to grab the entire seven-acre plot.

During the hearing on Thursday, the shopkeepers informed the SC that the shops were built 50 years ago and they had been paying monthly rent regularly to the district municipal committee.

The advocate-general (AG), Barrister Zamir Ghumro, informed the apex court that eviction notices had been served to the occupants of the shops and hotels. He undertook that the encroached land of the club will be retrieved soon.

The bench directed the AG to ensure that the dispute was resolved within two months and file a compliance report.

Source: The Express Tribune