KARACHI  - The Sindh High Court on Monday directed provincial law officer to submit detailed and comprehensive comments in a petition seeking removal of unauthorised barriers installed on streets and roads in Karachi and action against wall chalking.
Headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, the division bench was seized with the petition filed by Rana Faizul Hassan representing non-government organisation United Human Rights Commission, who submitted that barriers have been placed on various streets and roads of the metropolis which have restricted freedom of movement of citizens, law enforcers and the emergency workers.
He stated that recently the city has witnessed 70 percent of roads being blocked off by placing barriers or other hurdles by residents of mohallas, adding in Jamshed Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, North Nazimabad Town, Korangi Town and other towns a state within state has been created by erecting barriers.
He submitted that this situation being illegal has caused a kind of anarchy in the metropolis. He said that on the pretext of security measures walls has been erected on the streets leading to the Bilawal House that has caused citizens to suffer.
He stated before the court beside this bothersome situation, the wall chalking on the walls of the government, semi-government offices, and other buildings has destroyed the beauty of this city adding political and religious parties and other organizations are involved in this act.
He said that in October 2011, the Sindh governor had banned the wall chalking, directing the relevant officials to take action against the involved.
He said since then no action has been taken against those indulging themselves in such act. He pleaded to the court to direct the respondents to remove barriers from the streets and halt the wall chalking.
The hearing of case was put off till the date later fixed by office of the court. 
Meanwhile, the SHC put home secretary and jail authorities on notice in a petition of a convict against his detention despite the completion of his term. Petitioner Mir Shah Nawaz stated before the court that he was booked in a kidnapping for ransom case and later awarded life term and fined Rs100,000 by the Anti-terrorism Court of Mirpurkhas in 2000.
The petitioner stated that he preferred appeal in the high court which was dismissed and later the Supreme Court also dismissed his appeal and enhanced the sentence of 14 years to life imprisonment.
However, he said, the SC ordered that the sentences would run concurrently and petitioner was also entitled to the benefit of the Section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to ensure the time spent by a prisoner in custody during and before trial would be automatically deducted from his sentence.
The petitioner stated that he had completed his term on Nov 5, 2012 and he was liable to be released from the jail on the payment of fine of Rs100,000. He said that he repeatedly approached the jail superintendent to pay the fine, but the jailer clearly refused to accept the fine amount and release him.
The petitioner prayed to the court to direct the jail authorities to receive fine amount and release him forthwith.
A division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar also issued notice to the advocate general and the prosecutor general and put off the hearing till March 14.