After the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) formally retracted its previous decree, residential plots in Karachi will no longer be permitted for commercial use.
Muhammad Ishaq Khuhro, Director General of the SBCA, stated in a written statement filed with the Sindh High Court (SHC) that the notification dated March 13, 2025, has been revoked.
Town chairpersons and opposition members have petitioned the court to overturn the SBCA’s contentious ruling.
Nine town heads, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Saifuddin Advocate, the opposition leader of the city council, filed the petitions. They maintained that it was unlawful and would harm city planning to permit commercial operations on residential and recreational areas.
The petitioners claimed that without consulting the public, SBCA had covertly changed the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations, excluding “healthcare” from the list of approved purposes and altering the use of amenity plots. Additionally, they claimed that the amendment eliminated the public’s ability to protest changes in land use.
The Sindh High Court decided the petitions after hearing the SBCA’s statement.
However, SBCA also released a circular declaring the most recent revisions to the 2002 construction regulations to be void.
In order to undo the changes, the authority used its authority under Section 21-A of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979.
