KARACHI: The Supreme Court restrained all activities related to the demolition of the 716-square-yard Dharamshala for the Hindu community center and directed the Commissioner Karachi to take possession of the Dharamshala land.
Media reported the Chief Justice of Pakistan was hearing loss related to the delivery memorial in 3-member bench headed by Gulzar Ahmad province.
During the hearing, the court also issued notice to the Sindh secretary to submit a comprehensive report on the Dharamshala case in Karachi.
On December 30 last year, more than a thousand people, led by some local elders of a religious party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, protested and demanded the removal of Samadhi.
It may be recalled that the samadhi was vandalized in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and incendiary materials were used on it, on which the court directed the Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to visit the site and submit a comprehensive report.
Two days ago, during a hearing on June 11, the patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, drew the attention of the Supreme Court to the activities related to the demolition of the Dharamshala in Karachi.
He opined that the way was being paved for the construction of a commercial plaza in place of Dharamshala.
Dr. Ramesh Kumar said that the property is located in Napier Quarters in Saddar Town, Karachi and covers about 716 square yards and it is a Dharamshala.
He told the apex court during the hearing that the EVQ Trust Property Board (ETPB) had leased the property to some private individuals who now wanted to demolish Dharamshala to build a new building.
In addition, the ETPB chairman told the Supreme Court that the property was leased to private individuals after getting permission from the Sindh High Court (SHC).
In the three-page order, the Chief Justice observed that the order of the SHC was not before the Supreme Court but the photographs provided by Dr. Ramesh Kumar show that the Dharamshala building was constructed in 1932 and the Dharamshala The year can also be read clearly on the marble slab installed on the building, so it must be a heritage building.