LHC seeks explanation on reservation of graves

DC questioned over allotment of places at Miani Sahib cemetery

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has directed the Lahore deputy commissioner to explain the reservation of 456 places for graves in the Miani Sahib graveyard for many years and sought the record of the land allotted for the cemetery.

On Saturday, an LHC division bench headed by Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan asked the DC, who is the Miani Sahib Graveyard Committee chairman, to file his comments under what law graves were allotted to different people and families and what were their rights.

The court also asked about the names of the people these places were allotted to and the mechanism for retrieving these places from them.

The court issued this order while hearing an intra-court appeal against encroachments around the graveyard and put off further hearing till April 12.

The LHC has sought the record of the graveyard area and how much land had been vacated from illegal occupants and how much was still under their occupation and what would be the modus operandi to get it vacated.

They promised the construction of the remaining walls would be completed in the next 15 days.

The court directed the commissioner and DC to take steps for construction of pathways in the graveyard, make arrangements for proper lighting and stop the place from becoming a haven for criminals.

The court ordered completing the exercise within six weeks and directed the graveyard committee to meet on a fortnightly basis under the chairmanship of the Lahore DC.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2017.