The Lloyd’s Bank building in Karachi is a cultural heritage building that has been declared to be a protected heritage site by the Sindh Government via notification. A local bank seeks to have it altered and has received an NOC to this effect from the Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Department of the Government of Sindh. Heritage buildings and antiquities are protected not only by laws such as the Cultural Heritage Act, the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994 and the Antiquity Act, 1975, but also by the fundamental rights enshrined within the Constitution, including by Articles 4,9 and 28. In the World Heritage Convention 1972 of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), signatory countries, amongst which Pakistan is included, have pledged to protect national heritage.
PILAP has filed a Writ Petition before the Sindh High Court against the Government of Sindh; the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency; the Department of Cultural, Tourism and Antiquities of the Government of Sindh; the heritage Advisory Committee of the Sindh Cultural Department; the Sindh Building Control Authority and Silk Bank (the bank seeking alterations) against the alteration of this significant heritage building.
