LHC orders amendment to 128-year-old Land Acquisition Act

Lahore High Court ordered to amend 'one hundred twenty eight year' old law of acquiring land observing "The Land Acquisition Act 1894" is against the real essence of article 9 of the Constitution.

LHC's Justice Shahid Karim issued a detailed judgment. On January 25, Justice Karim had announced the verdict on different petitions scrapping the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project of the government and declared unconstitutional the several provisions of Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) Act 2020.

In detailed judgment, Justice Karim observed that appropriate measures be taken to stop wastage of agricultural land. Protection of the people should be the heart of national security policy.

The government should elaborate in the Land Acquisition Act the category of farming and agricultural land. The land is acquired across the world only for the public interest. Only giving compensation to the affected people, after acquiring the land, is not enough, the judgment added. The government should establish the business, at alternative land, of those whose business was affected through the land acquisition.

The land filled with litter is emphasized to make tillable across the world. There is a need to bring changes in Acquisition Land Act 1894 to deal with the environmental problems. The protection of agricultural land is not only the matter of lives but also of the national security.

The judgment further added that Pakistan had imported food items of Rs8 billion last year. Pakistan had reached 43.5 percent from 60.4 in food protection. No rules were made since 50 years either for acquiring the land or developing residential colonies. The elimination of the forests and agricultural lands causes an increase in noise pollution. There were 54 percent agricultural land in 1972 which decreased to 35 percent since 2009, the judgment further includes.

It is pertinent to mention that on January 25, Justice Karim announcing verdict on multiple petitions had also declared the acquisition of the agricultural land for the project unconstitutional and violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.

They prayed the court to direct the respondents to perform their statutory obligations and to take all the precautionary measures against smog.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2022.