SHC orders constant piped water to Karachi DHA residents
Karachi: The Sindh High Court has ordered the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC), the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) to guarantee the uninterrupted supply of water to DHA residents via normal water pipelines.
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A two-judge bench led by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi also ordered the chief executive officer of the KWSC and the concerned officials of the CBC and DHA to convene within 15 days to find a way to improve the regular water supply to petitioners and other residents through pipeline connections.
It also ordered them to continue supplying water to petitioners and other residents using five bowsers per month in accordance with their agreement and court orders.
The court adjourned the hearing until October 4 and ordered the CEOs of CBC and KWSC to be present at the next hearing.
The directives were issued in response to a group of identical petitions submitted between 2021 and 2023 against the imposition of an additional tax on water and the lack of clean water facilities in the DHA and Clifton areas.
The KWSC also submitted a report arguing that the CBC was receiving a total aggregate supply of five MGD instead of nine MGD due to a water shortage.
It was also stated that the KWSC could increase the water supply to six MGD within ten days, and that significant efforts were being made to prevent water leakage and theft from the mainline between Pipri pumping station and Chakra Goth.
The report also stated that the Sindh government had approved the five MGD water supply desalination facility project at Ibrahim Hydri, which would be completed in two years.
The CEO of CBC stated that, in accordance with a court order, every effort was being made to provide five dumpsters per month to petitioners and residents through an online system on a first-come, first-serve basis.
However, the petitioners’ attorneys disputed this claim and stated that the majority of petitioners and DHA residents were not provided with five water bowsers.
Over 100 residents of DHA and CBC filed petitions in the SHC and contended that they had been paying annual water levy regularly, but the respondents had failed to provide adequate facility of water to them and other residents in flagrant violation of Article 38(d) of the constitution and judgements of the apex court and charging additional amount against each water bowsers.
Sharmila Farooqui’s PhD in law is challenged by Dr. Farooqui
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued notices to the vice chancellor of Karachi University, the head of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), and others regarding a petition lodged against KU for awarding Sharmila Farooqui a PhD in law.
Advocates Zulfiqar Ali and Khalid Mehboob filed a petition claiming that the KU awarded Ms Farooqui a PhD in law degree last month based solely on “favoritism, political influence, and in complete violation of court order, law, rules, and merits.”
They argued that in February the SHC ordered the KU to promptly discontinue its PhD in law program until it complied with the HEC’s requirements and received commission approval. Nonetheless, the university continued the program and conferred degrees in violation of the court order.
A two-judge bench of the SHC led by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed issued notices for September 28 following a preliminary hearing.
The petitioners argued that the KU awarded the degree without any legal support and legal authority, and that such a degree lacked legal validity.
In addition, they asserted that there were severe illegalities and nepotism in PhD law admissions and exams, despite the fact that the KU had neither a written nor an oral record of PhD law admissions from 2014 to 2019.
They argued that the PhD in law program could not be continued because the university had failed to meet the necessary requirements and acquire a no-objection certificate from the HEC, per a February ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.
They asked the bench to direct the respondents to provide the nazir of the SHC with all records of admissions, examinations, and degrees for the PhD law program from 2014 to 2019, as the petitioners argued that there was a grave fear of record forgery and manipulation.
The petitioners also requested that respondents cancel the PhD degree awarded to Ms. Farooqui, as well as all such degrees issued between 2014 and 2019, as well as the PhD law degrees awarded to students who claimed to be enrolled during this time frame.
In addition, they requested that the bench direct the respondents to operate the school of law and PhD law program at KU in accordance with the judgements of the apex court, the SHC, and Section 10 of the HEC Ordinance, 2002.
In addition, they demanded that an order be issued to the HEC to ensure that the SHC’s ruling regarding the PhD law program at the KU is implemented in letter and spirit.
