KARACHI: The Sindh government suffered a majorblowonMondaywhen two benches of the Sindh High Court ruled against its decisions to sack Sindh police chief A.D. Khowaja and hand over an iconic park of Karachi to a real estate giant.

The court orders put the spotlight on the issues of governance in Sindh which has been ruled by the Pakistan Peoples Party for the past nine years.

The two decisions to remove IG Khowaja andhand over Bagh Ibne Qasim in Clif ton to Bahria Town sparked a strong protest by civil rights groups, the Karachi mayor and political parties who questioned the intentions of the provincial government and presented them as a classic case of poor governance.

But Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah claimed that there was no such issue in the province and only animpression of bad governance was being created.

`There is good governance in Sindh and the PPP`s victory in the 2013 elections was on the basis of this governance,` he told reportersin Shikarpur.

The order to reinstate Mr Khowaja as IGwasissued by a division bench headed by Justice Munib Akhtar on Monday noon. Then another bench, headed by Jusdce MohammadJunaidGhaffar, suspended the provincial government notification through which it had handed over Bagh Ibne Qasim to Bahria Town.

In the first order, the SHC suspended the provincial government`s notification of surrendering the services of Mr Khowaja to the federal government and appointing Additional IG Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti as acting IG.

The court ruled that Mr Khowaja was restored to his position as IG and if the new IG, Mr Dasti, had taken over the charge of office with immediate effect, he was restrained from holding office. The stay order shall operate till the next hearing i.e. April 6, the verdict said.

The court was hearing two applications one seeking reinstatement of IG Khowaja and the other for initiating contempt proceedings against the provincial government for replacing the IG `in violation of the Supreme Court`s order`.

Petitioners` counsel Faisal Siddiqui drew the attention of the court to the apex court`s order of Dec 28, 2016, which had held that IG Khowaja `shall not be dealt with in violation/contradiction of the judgement of the apex court` by his removal.

Referring to the March 31 provincial government`s decision of surrendering the services of Mr Khowaja to the federal government and its April 1 notification relieving him from the IG office and appointing Mr Dasti as acting IG, the counsel argued that both the decisions were in complete violation of the interim order passed by the apex court.

Advocate General for Sindh Zamir Ghumro strongly opposed both the petitions and contended that the provincial government had appropriately exercised its power in issuing the order and the notification for replacing the IG.

On a court query, he said the legal power with regard to the police force of the province in general and in relation to the IGin particular vestedin the provincial government in terms under the Police Act. The Police Order 2002 had been repealed and Police Act of 1861 reinstated in the province, he added.

When asked by the court, the AGsaid the order and the notification had not been issued as a result of a decision taken by or in the provincial cabinet.

Explaining the reason for question to the AG, the bench observed that the statutory powers conferred on the federal or provincial governments could only be exercised in the cabinet and by the cabinet decisions, and not otherwise under the judgement of the apex court in the Mustafa Impex and others vs government of Pakistan and others case (PLD 2016 SC 808).

In three months, the provincial government tried for a second time to get rid of IG Khowaja, but failed.

Following the court order, IG Khowaja reached the Central Police Of fice in the second half of the day and assumed his responsibilities.

Bagh Ibne Qasim Later in the day, another SHC bench restrained the Sindh government from handing over Bagh Ibne Qasim to Bahria Town on a petition filed by Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar.

The court suspended the operation of the provincial government`s notification, under which the park was handed over to Bahria Town for 10years, till April 18, the next date of hearing.

It also issued notices to the chief secretary, thelocal government secretary, Bahria Town and the provincial law of ficer, asking them to file their respective replies.

Mr Akhtar, who was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra during the hearing, requested the court to strike down the notification, saying it was illegal.

He said Bagh Ibne Qasim was in the control of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the local administration tried its best to maintain it.

The park was spread over 130 acres, but not limited to a turtle pond, murals of dinosaurs, 24 washrooms, 20 stone canopies and a large rose garden, the mayor said, adding that it overlooked the 90-metre port fountain of Karachi Port Trust.

He said the provincial government and Bahria Town had illegally entered into the agreement and the park was given to the real estate tycoon for adoption as if it was an orphan. Besides, he said, it was the prerogative of the KMC, if at all, to give up the park for adoption by a private concern.