KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday informed a one-judge bench of Singh High Court that it intends to file an intra-court appeal against the court’s decision to establish a medical college in the premises of Mohatta Palace.
On October 13, Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan had passed the order with the consent of the parties of a dispute regarding the estate of Fatima Jinnah, sister of the founding father of the country Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The judge had also proposed the formation of a committee of trust for the establishment and management of the institution.
The matter was on Wednesday fixed before Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi.
A counsel representing the Sindh government informed the court that it was contemplating filing an intra-court appeal against the verdict and sought time for the same. After hearing this, the court deferred the matter till November 15.
Initially, the suit for administration was instituted on October 29, 1970, by Hussein Ali Walji, first cousin of Fatima Jinnah. Later, Shireen Jinnah also initiated proceedings of inheritance for obtaining her share in Fatima Jinnah’s estate which includes moveable and immovable property, jewellery, shares and cash etc.
In 1979, Shareen Jinnah purportedly formed a trust for establishing a medical college in the premises of Qasr-e-Fatima commonly known as Mohatta Palace. The institution of the trust namely Shareen Jinnah Charitable Trust (SJCT) was also contested by Hussein Ali’s successors. The current plaintiff in the administration suit Nazish Amir Ali Walji is the grandson of Hussein Ali Walji.
Khawaja Shamsul Islam, advocate for the plaintiff, during an earlier hearing, had drawn the court’s attention towards an order passed on April 20, 2018, wherein counsel for SJCT, Yawar Farooqui, had filed a statement with a copy of the Declaration of Trust executed on March 03, 1979.
Islam had pointed out that patent anomalies were floating on the surface of the said document.
According to him, six trustees had been named in the said Declaration but only three trustees, Ibadatyar Khan, Dr Shareef and Dr Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi, had signed. Therefore, the very legitimacy of that Declaration of Trust is shrouded in mystery.
According to counsel for the plaintiff, even if all such blatant irregularities are ignored and the document is considered for whatever its worth is, one does not fail to observe that the very purpose of creation of the trust was “to establish a most modern Medical College exclusively for girls with an attached hospital for free treatment of poor persons in sickness and distress” and the trustees had agreed to act as members of the Committee of Management of the said college and hospital.
The counsel claimed through the said declaration the trustees took overall cash, shares, jewellery, assets and other movable and immovable properties of the Shireen Jinnah including the Qasr-e-Fatima (formerly known as Mohatta Palace) and without giving any account of these assets, have (till date) failed to establish any such hospital/college which the declaration required to be made in the name of “Shireen Jinnah Girls Medical College”.
Learned counsel also drew court’s attention to an annexure, describing properties left by the deceased Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, for which this suit for administration was filed on October 29, 1970, which later on allegedly through the said Trust Declaration were shown to have been handed out by the donor Mohtarma Shireen Jinnah to the trustees.
Counsel once again stated that the trustees have failed to give any account of these properties.
The court noted that a perusal of the file also reflected that no such information has been provided to the court.
In 1993, the then Sindh government had paid Rs6.118 million as the tentative sale price of Qasr-e-Fatima and on Sindh government’s request the SHC handed out the said property for repair and maintenance only.
He stated that as evident from the various orders of this court, possession of the said property was only handed out to the provincial government for repair and maintenance and no title thereof was ever transferred in favour of the provincial government as well as no final determination of the sale price has been made. But, stated the counsel, to take monetary benefit, the provincial government counsel created a trust called “Mohatta Palace Gallery Trust” without any intimation to the court or without seeking any permission.
According to the counsel, the said gallery trust had been using the said property for gainful and promotional purposes to the extent that it had been used for wedding ceremonies and musical functions which brings the said building to disrepute and tarnishes its sentimental value as it the historical place where Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, mother of the nation took her last breath.