Masons battle to free their lodges from Punjab govt

They claim their properties which they claim were confiscated by the Punjab government on September 13, 1974.

LAHORE: The 41-year battle to free their lodges from the Punjab government has seen four out of six mason masters to the grave, yet there is no sign of the property being vacated.

Lodge 90 on Shahrah-e-Quaid-i-Azam, currently serving as the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, was taken away from the masons in 1974 by the provincial government. It is among the reported Masonic lodges in the city.

The masters — members of Freemasonry in Pakistan — are demanding repossession of their properties which they claim were confiscated by the Punjab government on September 13, 1974. It also declared the Freemasons association as a “danger to public peace”. Lodge 90 was formerly known as Concord Lodge No 1416 FC and the masons claim it for themselves.

The masters won the first round of litigation, which started in 1975, within three years. However, the second round started on July 11, 1995 and is still pending before the LHC. Kabir A Sheikh, Mazhar Mufti, Dr Dara J Hormasji, Ajmal Wahid, AGK Lodhi and Ahmad Ali Bhatti, all masters of different Masonic lodges, filed the petition. Ajmal Wahid and AGK Lodhi are the only ones still alive, but the rest of the petitioners died during the 22-year pendency of their cases.

During this time, 13 different judges of the LHC took up the matter and as many as 81 hearings have taken place.



Four judges, including Justice Fazal Miran Chohan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Sair Ali and Justice M Javed Buttar had refused to take up the matter due to personal reasons.

Now the matter is pending before Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir, who took up the matter on May 19, 2017. However, the court timings were over on that particular day and the case was simply relisted for June 1.

Justice Munir A Sheikh, Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Farrukh Irfan, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sh Ahmed Farooq, Justice Sair Ali, Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh and Justice Ahmed Farooq have been dealing with this case.

Ajmal Wahid, one of the petitioners, told The Express Tribune that the masons were even willing to accept compensation for their property if it was so dear to the provincial administration. He added that the courts were reluctant to get the property vacated as the matter involved the Punjab government.

“On September 13, 1974, the Punjab government, describing freemasons as a ‘danger to public peace’, declared the group as unlawful. The action was biased as it wanted to take possession of the valuable property of the freemasons,” said Ajmal. He said with this move, the government also took possession of their moveable properties, including furniture, fixtures, the library and funds deposited with different banks for utility and monthly subsidies to orphans and widows.



He said they challenged the notification before the LHC which was dismissed and subsequently the Supreme Court also upheld the same order.

Later, the provincial and federal governments filed separate review petitions before the SC and issued Martial Law Regulation No 56 on June 10, 1978, declaring the Freemasons Association as unlawful and has it dissolved. The authorities also decided that the provincial government would take possession of all properties belonging to the association.

In 1859, the first freemason lodges were built in Lahore on the site where the Lady Maclagan High School is situated on Lodge Road, Anarkali. They were relocated to located to 90 Shahrah-e-Quaid-i-Azam in 1916 after the land was purchased for Rs32,519.

Additional Advocate General Sarajul Islam Khan, representing the government in court over the matter, told The Express Tribune that the Attorney General of Pakistan would be giving a presentation on the case on the next date of hearing. He said the government would accept any decision taken by the LHC, adding the delay over a verdict was partly due to the fact that the counsel of the government was not present in court.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2017.