‘Capture’ of state land voided

IHC directs district administration to clear grabbed land in the city

ISLAMABAD:

A no-objection certificate granted to a private housing society owned by an associate of the prime minister and a sitting minister in Punjab was annulled by the high court on Thursday.

Further, the apex civic authority of the city was told to remove obstructions built on state acquired land while the district administration was told to recover grabbed state land in the capital territory and together with the interior secretary submit an implementation report within a month.

This was directed on Thursday by a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, as it issued a verdict in a case against a road built for a private housing scheme owned by Senior Punjab Minister for Food Abdul Aleem Khan. In the 80-page verdict, CJ Minallah asked, “What would it be like to live in a society that is not governed by the rule of law?”

He continued, “A society where elite capture becomes an essential characteristic of governance and where public functionaries appear to be more eager to serve the privileged classes at the expense of state resources and its assets rather than treating every citizen equal and protecting their rights.”

In such an eventuality, CJ Minallah wrote, it becomes a classic case of breach of the constitutional obligation under Article 5 of the Constitution. “Consequently, rule of law is relegated to the status of mere political rhetoric,” the verdict read.

“The facts and circumstances of the case in hand indicate a virtual collapse of the governance system,” CJ Minallah said, adding, “It is an example of how regulators and public functionaries are eager to bend the laws, mislead the courts, abuse and misconstrue orders passed during judicial proceedings merely to enrich and benefit the privileged and resourceful segments of society at the expense of assets belonging to the people.”

IHC’s chief justice further noted that the case demonstrates how summaries are manipulated to mislead the federal cabinet to get favourable decisions.

Noting the malaise in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the court reposed its confidence in the federal government - including the premier and his cabinet - that they can make “this case an example for bringing a demonstrable change in the paradigm of a deeply corrupted governance system prevalent in the 1,400 square mile area of the capital of Pakistan.”

The court subsequently held that the use of state acquired land must not directly or indirectly benefit a private, profit-making entity or person as it will be contrary to public interest and policy, and thus without lawful authority and jurisdiction.

It declared the NOC obtained for the land as “illegal, void and issued without lawful authority and jurisdiction.”

It directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the ICT Chief Commissioner to remove all the obstructions or any other construction attributed to the housing company on the acquired land.

The CDA was further directed to resume the land so-far developed by the company and enforce laws which guard against environmental degradation.

The chief commissioner was told to ensure that the land of the housing scheme is demarcated and all complaints of land grabbing, obstructing rights of way and other property rights of citizens are resolved - a system for which will be developed and implemented by the deputy commissioner.

Moreover, the deputy commissioner was told to ensure that urgent measures are taken to prevent the land grabbing and other violations of property rights in un-acquired land in ICT.

The CDA and ICT commissioner would demarcate state land in the capital and retrieved grabbed land.

The secretary of the interior ministry, the chief commissioner and the inspector general of police were held responsible if land grabbing and illegal dispossession continue in the city.

The court further directed to place a copy of the verdict before the federal cabinet to initiate a probe over the illegalities that surfaced in the case. Further, the federal cabinet was expected to make the environment protection agency an empowered, independent body and for the CDA to implement environmental laws.

The interior secretary, chief commissioner and deputy commissioner were directed to submit a joint compliance report within a month.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2020.