KARACHI: Seven identical petitions, filed against the sealing and ownership controversy of the historic Karachi Cotton Exchange Building and heard, as well as reserved for judgement by the Sindh High Court last month, have now been re-fixed for a fresh hearing along with other similar matters before another bench of the SHC.
A two-judge constitutional bench (CB-II) of the SHC comprising Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Justice Zulfiqar Ali Sangi said that some identical petitions were pending before another two-member constitutional bench (CB-I) of the SHC, wherein interim orders had also been passed.
It said that in order to ensure comprehensive adjudication in the light of such developments and to avoid the possibility of conflicting decisions, these matters needed to be reheard.
The bench ordered the fixing of these seven petitions, along with three recently filed petitions on the subject matter, on April 20 before another constitutional bench as per the roster.
Seven petitions to be heard together by Constitutional Bench No 1
However, it also stated that the interim restraining orders passed in these petitions earlier will continue till the next date of hearing.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) in a joint raid had sealed the historic building on Dec 12, 2025, declaring it a federal trust property and subsequently lodging an FIR against various persons, including responsible officers of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for allegedly relying on fake and forged documents to assert ownership of the building.
Initially, the KMC, Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) and others had approached the SHC impugning the sealing order and eviction notice as well as the FIR.
The petitioners contended that the ETPB and FIA lacked jurisdiction to declare any property as evacuee trust property since the same was no longer a federal subject, and subsequently, a provincial law on the subject matter had been enacted in 2019.
Subsequently, the SHC, through interim orders, had restrained the FIA from taking coercive action against the officials of KMC and others based on the impugned FIR. On March 4, the same bench (CB-II) had reserved its judgment on these petitions after hearing the parties concerned.
Thereafter, the KCA and its many members and tenants had filed three fresh petitions in the SHC challenging the notices issued by the FIA under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2010, seeking their detailed banking records from all commercial banks.
Last week, the CB-II had summoned the director general of the FIA in these petitions, and directed him to appear on April 16 to explain the conduct of agency officials when the court had already reserved for order the similar issue.
In its latest order, the CB-II noted that during the hearings of seven identical petitions, the FIA informed the bench that the FIR in question was being treated as an enquiry and was to be processed in accordance with law, and that these petitions were heard and reserved for judgement on March 4.
“We have observed that subsequently after reserving these petitions for judgment, other identical petitions have been filed by different parties on the issues related to the same cause of action. We have also been informed that some identical petitions were filed and are now pending before constitutional bench-I [comprising Justice Muhammad Saleem Jesser and Justice Nasir Ahmed Bhanbhro] on the same issue, wherein notices were ordered to be issued to the respondents, and interim orders were also passed”, it added.
The bench also said that to ensure comprehensive adjudication in the light of such developments and to avoid the possibility of conflicting decisions, it was considered appropriate that the present petitions be reheard.
“Accordingly, these petitions are directed to be fixed for re-hearing along with the subsequently filed petitions [three petitions filed last week] on 20.04.2026, as per the roster, and not before this bench. Interim order, if any, passed earlier to continue till next date of hearing”, the CB-II in its order concluded.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026
