KARACHI: Army was directed to hand over Askari Park to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) here on Monday. The Supreme Court (SC) issued the order of transferring the possession.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed headed the bench which directed to put an end to the commercial activities in the park. SC said that the premise should be kept for public use. According to the representative of Corps V, the military authorities were given the park on a lease of 99 years. On which, the chief justice said that land was supposed to be turned into a park and was not intended for commercial activities.
According to a report by KMC, 38 acres of area was reserved for the park. However, the lease agreement did not specify the measured area of the land and also missed the date of the agreement.
KMC has been ordered to remove all commercial activities. The area allocated for the park has 88 shops and multiple wedding halls.