The General Court in Jeddah has ruled that the Jeddah Mayoralty and the son of a former minister compensate a Saudi citizen with almost SR90 million for illegally demolishing his shopping center several times over the past few years. The mayoralty and the former minister's son had claimed that the land, on which the shopping center had been built, did not belong to Muhammad Muneer Al-Muttairi. The mayoralty and the former minister's son must pay SR88 million as compensation for the demolition and SR1.8 million for building a road through his property. Al-Muttairi had been confirmed, by other authorities, as the legal owner of the 6,000 square meter land east of Madina Road. He has owned the land since 1953. The court's decision against the former minister's son stated: “If he repeats harming the defendant Muhammad Muneer Al-Muttairi, the latter has the right to punish him with prison and a fine.” The former minister's son has rejected the court's decision and will appeal the verdict. He said he would refer his objection to the Court of Appeal. Okaz has learnt from informed sources that the Jeddah Mayoralty will now drop its lawsuit against Al-Muttairi, demanding that he demolish a shopping center he built on the property. The sources said the mayoralty intends to inform the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs about this decision. Al-Muttairi has been proven as the owner of the land by two verdicts issued earlier by the General Court and the Administrative Court. The verdicts reject claims of ownership made by the Jeddah Mayoralty, Ministry of Transport and the inheritors of the former minister. The verdict on the ownership of the site was declared final after confirmation by the Higher Judicial Council. It has been referred for royal approval. In the aftermath of the ruling in favor of Al-Muttairi, one of the heads of the municipalities in Jeddah has been transferred and has been barred from dealing with the public. Earlier, Engineer Adel Faqeeh, the Jeddah Mayor, sent a letter to the President of the General Court stating there had been a dispute over four plots of land adjacent to one another in the area. Faqeeh said an ownership title deed had been issued for three of the four plots, supported by the Higher Judicial Council. The three plots have been allocated to the former minister's son, he said. The mayoralty is expected to appeal part of the court's decision, which requires it to return part of the land that it had used to construct a 12 meter-wide street, and to compensate Al-Muttairi SR1.8 million. The matter was referred to the Administrative Appeal Court. Al-Muttairi said the mayoralty had taken the matter to court, despite the fact that it had been proven, by two court verdicts and the Higher Judicial Council, that he was the owner of the property.
