The Supreme Court on Monday retracted its directives, issued earlier in the day, to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to remove Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab from the position after the city representative tendered an “unconditional apology" to the court, Aaj News reported.

In its directive, the apex court directed Wahab to fulfil his responsibility beyond “political affiliation” and that the post of city administrator should be kept away from “politics.”

Earlier, a two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin issued the directive for Wahab’s removal after an argument during the hearing of a case pertaining to Gutter Bagicha [sewage park], which has shrunk from over a 1,000 acres to less than half its original size due to illegal allotments.

“This [Gutter Bagicha] is state property. This is not your personal property. You will have to return it to the state. If we won’t take it, somebody else would come and take it,” read the court order.

To this, the Karachi administrator asked the court whether the provincial government's representative should quit the government. “Major observations are made against the provincial government in the open court,” he added.

This prompted a sharp reaction from the court. “Keep quiet and avoid politics here and leave from here,” CJ Gulzar said while issuing the order for the removal of Wahab from his post.

“Are you a politician or the administrator,” the CJ asked and said the city administrator was appointed for the public’s assistance and the administrator’s post was not for “doing politics".

“It appears that the [Karachi] administrator has failed in fulfilling his duty. The administrator’s attitude is like a politician instead of a public’s representative,” the court remarked and ordered the immediate removal of Wahab.

It further ordered that a “competent and unbiased” person must be appointed for the position.

The court had remarked that Wahab was not “competent for the job.”