The Lahore High Court on Wednesday restrained the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) from selling land attached to a Gurdwara in Cantt to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) without prior permission of the court.
Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan said the court would protect the rights of minorities at all costs. He said any land disposed of by the ETPB would be retrieved.
The judge also directed the ETPB deputy administrator to produce the record of the land attached to Gurdwara Bibi Nanki by the next hearing.
The court issued this order while hearing a writ petition against the possible sale of 114 kanals attached to Gurdwara Bibi Nanki to DHA.
On Wednesday, an ETPB deputy administrator undertook that the land would not be disposed of.
The petitioner, Gulab Singh, who is a member of management committee of Bibi Nanki Gurdwara Trust, said that a huge portion of the land situated in Mota Singh village, Cantt, was evacuee trust property and attached to the gurdwara.
He said as it was trust property and should be preserved but ETPB had already sold most of the land to DHA. He submitted the ETPB now wanted to sell the remaining 114 kanals to DHA too. He said he requested the ETPB chairman not to sell the property and transfer it to the gurdwara for its expansion. He said his request was ignored. He said the Sikh community worldwide was disturbed over the unauthorised sale of the land. He said the ETPB was the custodian of trust property and could not dispose of it except under exceptional circumstances.
He said the potential sale would be a violation of the Evacuee Trust Property (Management) Act 1975. He requested the court to restrain the ETPB from disposing of the land.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2012.
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