During the hearing of Karachi violence suo motu implementation case, a five-member bench of the SC directed the senior member of the Board of Revenue, Shahzar Shamoon, to explain why record of the state lands was not reconstructed despite a lapse of several years.
At the last hearing, the apex court had issued show-cause notices to the board to explain why the court orders, issued in 2005 to survey unregistered state lands, were not implemented in seven years. In its judgment, the court noted that encroachment upon unregistered state lands was also a reason behind the worsening law and order situation, as various groups were fighting over the lands.
Shamoon said that the registration was underway and will be completed in three months. He said that 80 per cent of the records were lost during the riots on December 27, 2007, and had to be re-written. He said he had punished some Mukhtiarkars (officers) for tempering with the records.
“Which city has the ugliest lands record? Is it Karachi?” questioned Justice Amir Hani Muslim. “Yes, Karachi does,” the officer admitted, adding that lands were being registered at the district level in the province.
“The entire state land is being grabbed because of your blessings. This is being done under your nose,” the judge said.
“It’s a matter of concern that, despite the Supreme Court and the high court orders, the state land is being grabbed in connivance with the staff, and the owners are running from pillar to post,” remarked Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali.
SC summons reports on jail breaks
While the judges were questioning government officials about the law and order situation, a senior lawyer, Ghulam Qadir Jatoi, diverted their attention towards hardened criminals, such as Farooq Bulla, who had escaped after breaking out of Sukkur and Dadu prisons.
“These criminals have established factories of dacoits in the jungle, and they dump arms there. They have made travelling to those areas very difficult,” said the lawyer.
Jatoi recalled that special commissions had conducted inquiries into the jail breaks but their findings were never publicised. Entertaining his plea, the bench directed home secretary and the advocate general to find out those reports and place it before the court on Wednesday.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2012.
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