Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday allowed more time to the Karachi commissioner and deputy commissioners of different deputy commissioners of Karach division to submit their replies on petitions filed by Khuwaja Izharul Hassan of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM) and others regarding the issuance of domicile and permanent resident certificates (PRCs) to non-residents of the city.
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When the pleas were taken up for hearing by a two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, the petitioner submitted that Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar (now Supreme Court judge) had already extensively heard the matter.
Justice Sheikh observed that the bench would first like to hear the law officer of the provincial government on the issue. The law officer for the Sindh government submitted that certain DCs had yet to file their replies and sought time for the same. The bench, allowing his request, deferred the further hearing to March 29.
The MQM leader Khuwaja Izharul Hassan and other petitioners in their 2019 petitions had maintained that fake domicile certificates, and PRCs were being issued by the relevant authorities against payment of Rs2,000 per document. Holding the Sindh chief minister (CM) directly responsible for it, the petitioners requested the court to also seek an explanation from the CM in this regard.
They claimed that thousands of people had been employed in government jobs based on these fake domiciles and PRCs. They revealed that 40,000 vacancies in various government departments were in the process of being filled based on these fake documents.
This unfair treatment has been going on since 2008, and the authorities, while issuing PRCs and documents, do not bother even to check the permanent address on the computerized national identity cards of the relevant persons.
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This had deprived the residents of Karachi of their rights and claim on government jobs, petitioners maintained while requesting the court to order the constitution of a committee to look into the malpractices relating to the issuance of PRCs and domicile certificates.
