Victoria Museum, Karachi

Victoria Museum, now called Supreme Court Registry, Karachi, founded as Victoria and Albert Museum, is a building in Karachi which houses the Supreme Court of Pakistan Karachi registry branch.

History

The building was originally built during the British Raj. It was founded by the Duke of Connaught in 1887 during the reign of Queen Victoria as a museum then known as Victoria and Elbert Museum.^[1]

In July 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah inaugrated it as the State Bank of Pakistan building and is noted for Jinnah's historic speech which articulates his vision for Pakistan.^[1]^[2]

On 21 May 1892, it was converted into a full museum and named Victoria Museum.^[3] It had stuffed animals, artefacts from the Mohenjo-daro, statues of people of Hind and abroad, portraits, paintings, and pictures of famous people from around the world.^[3]

In October 1957, an apex court registry was established in Karachi in the building.^[1]

In May 1995, the Government of Sindh transferred ownership of the building to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.^[2] Following some renovations, the Supreme Court Registry was officially inaugurated on February 20, 1997.^[2]

Architecture

The building was designed in Victorian architecture. It features three courtrooms, the Chief Justice's chambers, six judges' chambers, registrar's chambers, a conference room, a judges' lounge, an office block, and a mosque.^[2] It also houses additional rooms for the Supreme Court Bar Association.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Tanoli, Ishaq (December 24, 2018). "New building of SC Registry to be completed in three years". DAWN.COM.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Victoria and Elbert Museum (Supreme Court Building), Karachi". heritage.eftsindh.com.
^ ^a ^b Balouch, Akhtar (November 21, 2013). "In search of the Victoria Museum – Part II". DAWN.COM.