LEA market’s heritage building being restored in original state: SHC told

KARACHI: Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) in a reply submitted in the Sindh High Court has said that Lea Market is a heritage building, which is being restored to its original condition.

The Karachi Municipal Corporation submitted its reply over a petition of shopkeepers who said that the Lea Market’s heritage building will be restored to its original state on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The city body further stated that the bonafide shopkeepers of the Lea the market will be provided an alternate place for their businesses.

The court while extending the stay order against the KMC’s notice to shopkeepers for vacating their shops ordered the petitioners to submit their rejoinder to the civic body’s reply.

Earlier, the shopkeepers had filed a petition against the KMC’s notice. The body consisted of over 170 shopkeepers submitted in the court that
shopkeepers were legally allowed by the KMC to construct their shops on their own expenses and are paying regular monthly rent to the Karachi
Municipal Corporation (KMC).

They said that the allottees are the bona fide tenants of the city government and are not the encroachers and contended that their case is different from that of the encroachment in the city as they were legally allotted the shops. TF Report