SC moved to prevent transfer of 40,000 acres

According to the applicant, the seven allotments, which amount to over 40,000 acres, had been cancelled by the CM

ISLAMABAD: Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has requested the Supreme Court to prevent Sindh authorities from transferring 40,000 acres of land.

In an application filed before the top court on Wednesday, the graft watchdog claimed the land was being allotted on the basis of forged documents. It alleged that a land mafia in Karachi was conniving with corrupt public office holders in Sindh to transfer the land.

According to the applicant, the seven allotments, which amount to over 40,000 acres, had been cancelled by the Sindh chief minister on September 19.

The applicant also alleged that deputy commissioners in Sindh frequently exercised powers regarding the exchange of land at their own level without obtaining the approval of the committee constituted to oversee and finalise the cases under section 17 of the colonisation of Government Lands Sindh Act 1912.

“Only the chief minister authorised to allot land for non-agricultural purposes… the deputy commissioner cannot allot a single inch of land,” the petition stated.

TIP also said that the process of cancelation of illegal allotment of over 200,000 acres of land has been stopped, “against the interest of the state.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd,  2015.