Parks cannot be used for private profit: SC

Says land given away for free or at subsidised rates to the powerful harms the state

ISLAMABAD:

The top court has ruled that designated parks and green areas must not be allowed to be converted for exclusive private use or private profit.

“Every designated park/green area must be preserved; these areas may also be for the use and/or benefit of the public,” said a 21-page verdict issued by a division bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi.

The bench issued the order after hearing a petition filed against illegal allotment of a second plot to the managing director (MD) of the National Police Foundation.

The petitioner also alleged that the second plot allotted to the MD was designated as a park/green area in the layout plan of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

While setting aside the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which had dismissed the petition earlier, the court noted that many in power illegally procure land and deprive others of their entitlement, including the less privileged and those without any shelter.

“This elite dismantling of the division between private and public interest disrupts a just social order and the spirit of community. The Constitution requires that Pakistan be ‘a democratic state based on Islamic principles of social justice’.

“Whenever a second plot is allotted to the same person it deprives another, and when this is done at subsidized or below market rates private interest subverts the interest of the state.

“Land is a valuable asset of the state, therefore, when land is given away for free or at subsidized rates to the powerful elite by an impoverished state, it harms the state because selling it at market rate would have alleviated the debt burden which condemns to servitude and poverty those not born yet.”

The ruling said by allotting a second plot to its MD, the National Police Foundation unnecessarily jeopardized its interest, the interest of its beneficiaries and of all those who are residing in the scheme.

“This it apparently did to appease/facilitate elite individuals, a sad reflection on those in charge of a charitable trust. The petitioner, who was not even a beneficiary of the foundation, was more concerned in safeguarding the properties of the foundation and to ensure that it be run properly than those whose duty it was and who were paid to do so.”

It said while there may be justification to assist serving and retired government servants to have a residence of their own and for this purpose to allot them a plot of land at subsidized or below market rates, there can be none if the same is misused for monetary gain.

“The poor of this nation eke out a living with great difficulty and are lucky if they manage a roof over their heads. The state of Pakistan is heavily indebted and impecunious.

“In blatant disregard of the people and the country, the elite capture land. Autogenously exceptional and self-entitlement is hollowing out the state and creating an unsustainable environment,” it said.

Statutory remedy

The verdict also noted that Article 175(2) of the Constitution stipulates that jurisdiction of courts can be conferred either by the Constitution or law.

Intra-court appeal is a statutory remedy, and does not take away the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. In appropriate cases, the SC will not insist to first avail an intra court appeal.

It said the National Police Foundation would in certain cases be amenable to a high court’s jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution.