SC adjourns hearing of Pakpattan land sale case indefinitely

Chief Justice says encroachment not only limited to a few marlas

ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of a case pertaining to the sale of Auqaf department land in Pakpattan for an indefinite period.

The bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar adjourned the hearing on the request of petitioner’s counsel Iftikhar Gilani.

The top judge, during the hearing, remarked that the encroachment was not limited to just seven marlas but involved occupation of thousands of acres of Auqaf land.



Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, during his visit to the Baba Farid shrine in Pakpattan last year, had promised justice in the case when dozens of the affected people sought his attention towards their plight.

The households in the area seek ownership rights of the land they purchased from the Dewans, the caretakers of the shrine, during the last 70 years.

The Dewans claim that they had been declared caretakers of 14,500 canal land of the Baba Farid shrine.

But the Auqaf department says the shrine caretakers had no right to sell the land associated with the shrine for centuries.

The Dewans had filed a review petition with the apex court against the Auqaf Department for defence of their right to sell the land.