A file photo of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea to review its December 18, 2009, verdict which cancelled a lease for five acres of land earmarked as a playground to the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) in Karachi for 90 years at an annual rent of Rs6,020.
In 2009, the court had taken suo motu notice of a 2002 land lease given to the AWT for five acres of land which had been earmarked as an amenity plot. The notice was taken on the basis of an article by late columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee.
The court had directed that the land must be restored as it was originally set for, as a playground.
But the defendants had managed to obtain a stay order on the 2009 ruling by then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
A three judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, on Thursday resumed hearing of the review petitions filed by the sub-let Makro-Habib, AWT and others against the court’s ruling. The court, however, upheld the original ruling and ordered Makro-Habib to close down its commercial outlet in Lines Area, Karachi within three months.
CJP Justice Khawaja also asked how five acres land, situated in the heart of Karachi, was allotted at an annual rent of Rs6,020.
The 32-page verdict authored by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja had ordered the city government to develop and maintain the land as a playground or use it for any other purpose permissible under the law.
The top court said the AWT, which is also an NGO, had been granted government land in a non-transparent manner without any regards to financial interests of the government and without an open invitation to bidders, which could not be treated as a legitimate and permissible exercise of executive powers.
He said the court appreciated the functioning of AWT but instead of giving lease to the AWT, the government should allocate for it money in the budget.
During the hearing, counsel for Makro-Habib Khalid Anwar contended that according to the master plan, there was no playground at that place, adding that if the court ordered to stop commercial activities, more than 300 people could be rendered jobless.
Further, Anwar argued that should the court uphold its earlier order, then ownership of the land should be transferred to the federal government.
On this, Deputy Attorney General Shail Mahmood requested the bench to transfer that land to the federal government.
After hearing the arguments, the court rejected the review petitions of all respondents, upholding the original order.
How a playground was turned into a cash and carry
In 2002, former president General Pervez Musharraf had leased the land to Army Welfare Trust.
The trust had in turn sub-leased the area to cash and carry operator Makro-Habib in July 2006, allowing it to construct a building over 4.9 acres.
The land was transferred on July 31, 2006, for an initial term of 30 years after receiving an advance rent of Rs100 million based on a variable annual amount of at least Rs17.5 million, and a maximum equivalent to one per cent of the annual turnover of the outlet.
Read: Plea assails armed forces’ commercial activities
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