SHC orders fresh hearing in Karachi Cotton Exchange building case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has ordered a fresh hearing of seven identical petitions linked to the sealing of the historic Karachi Cotton Exchange Building and the dispute over its ownership, after the matters had earlier been heard and reserved for judgment last month.

A two-member constitutional bench of the SHC, comprising Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Justice Zulfiqar Ali Sangi, said the petitions would now be heard together with other similar matters pending before another constitutional bench in order to avoid conflicting rulings and ensure a comprehensive decision.

According to the court order, the seven petitions, along with three recently filed petitions on the same subject, have been fixed for April 20 before another constitutional bench in line with the roster. The bench also directed that interim restraining orders already granted in these petitions would remain in force until the next hearing.

Bench cites similar pending petitions

In its order, the bench noted that some identical petitions were already pending before Constitutional Bench-I, comprising Justice Muhammad Saleem Jesser and Justice Nasir Ahmed Bhanbhro, where notices had been issued to respondents and interim orders had also been passed.

"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," the order stated.

The bench added that rehearing the matters was appropriate in view of these developments. "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," it said.

Background of the dispute

The case stems from a joint action by the Federal Investigation Agency and the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which sealed the Karachi Cotton Exchange Building on Dec 12, 2025. The authorities declared the property to be a federal trust property and later registered an FIR against several individuals, including Karachi Metropolitan Corporation officials, alleging that fake and forged documents had been used to claim ownership of the building.

The KMC, the Karachi Cotton Association and others subsequently moved the SHC, challenging the sealing order, the eviction notice and the FIR. The petitioners argued that the ETPB and FIA did not have the authority to declare any property as evacuee trust property because the matter was no longer a federal subject and a provincial law had been enacted in 2019.

The SHC had earlier restrained the FIA, through interim orders, from taking coercive action against KMC officials and others on the basis of the disputed FIR.

On March 4, the same bench had reserved judgment on the seven petitions after hearing the parties.

Fresh petitions over AMLA notices

After the judgment was reserved, the Karachi Cotton Association, along with several of its members and tenants, filed three new petitions in the SHC. These petitions challenged notices issued by the FIA under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, through which detailed banking records were sought from all commercial banks.

Last week, the same bench had summoned the FIA director general in these petitions and directed him to appear on April 16 to explain the conduct of agency officials when, according to the court, a similar issue had already been reserved for orders.

The latest order also recorded that during hearings on the seven petitions, the FIA had informed the bench that the FIR was being treated as an enquiry and would be processed in accordance with law.