‘Leasing, renting out police land unlawful’
PHOTO: FILE
The Sindh High Court has declared on the lease or renting out of land belonging to the police department to individuals unlawful.
The SHC's Hyderabad circuit bench also ordered the provincial home department to collect information of all such plots that have been rented or leased out to individuals in "defiance of the purpose of allotment by the provincial government."
"Without sanction of the law and authority, leasing out the properties is not permissible," the order underlined, as the court gave the authorities 15 days to collect the necessary data and submit it before the bench.
The order came in a revision application filed by Haji Qamaruddin, whose counsel pleaded a case against the Hyderabad Police over a plot. The corner plot, a part of the Hyderabad police headquarters, is located in a commercial area on Al Rahim Road. The petitioner claimed that on January 21, 1993, he had signed a rental agreement with the police department through the Hyderabad SSP.
Initially, the monthly rent was fixed at Rs120,000 but it was later increased to Rs265,000. However, the petitioner claimed he only signed the renewed agreement with the increment under 'coercion' from the police.
According to him, he requested the police to revert to the previously agreed amount, but when they refused, he filed a suit, subsequently losing the legal battle and the review petition.
The SHC, too, dismissed his petition.
"The primary question was...how and under what authority the Sindh Police, through the SSP, has executed a lease agreement of the subject plot for the operation of a petrol pump?" the court questioned.
The bench further noted that neither the petitioner's counsel nor the additional advocate general were able to answer the court's question.
"This act has raised eyebrows that even land meant for the police headquarters is now being rented out," the bench remarked.
The court also asked the petitioner's lawyer to inform it under which law his client had obtained possession of the premises from the police, but the lawyer was unable to give a satisfactory reply.
The bench went on to state that the transaction was a sham and bogus one as the Hyderabad SSP was not vested with the authority to rent the property to an individual.
The order noted that the Sindh government gave the property in question to the police department for housing or administrative purposes, but instead of performing administrative functions, the police were renting it out.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2020.