The question of the policy regarding allotment of state lands came up during the hearing. PHOTO: RASHID AJMERI/EXPRESS/FILE
The larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, also called a report from the Board of Revenue (BoR) authorities on how many FIRs were registered by its Anti-Encroachment Force against land-grabbers.
The bench, comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Mushir Alam, was hearing the Karachi law and order suo motu implementation case at the SC’s Karachi Registry.
The question of the policy regarding allotment of state lands came up during the hearing of an application moved by the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) seeking a review of the apex court’s previous order that restrained the revenue authorities from fresh allotments of government lands in the province. Raja Muhammad Irshad, the lawyer representing ISI, submitted that the chief minister had approved a request for allotment of 10 acres in NA-234 in Karachi to the ISI on paying the market rate.
The judges, however, found that there was no policy that permits allotting state lands to the federal government institutions, including the ISI. The bench directed Sindh AG Abdul Fateh Malik to take instructions from the CM regarding existence of such policy and to examine the state lands policy prepared by the Punjab government to devise the same in Sindh.
Status of encroachments
The bench ordered the BoR’s senior member to submit details on the two-year performance of the Anti-Encroachment Force (AEF) established by the board, explaining how many lands were retrieved from land grabbers, what action was initiated against them and the number of cases sent to the special anti-encroachment tribunal with their current status.
The judges reprimanded the AEF SSP Arif Aziz for the poor performance of his force, when he claimed to have registered only two cases during his three-month tenure.
They pointed out that out of the 135 cases registered by the AEF regarding illegal encroachments on government lands, 62 were declared as ‘untraced’ while proceedings in the remaining cases were quashed.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that thousands of acres of government land in Karachi alone were under illegal occupation, but the AEF has registered only a dozen cases. The bench also expressed extreme displeasure over the force’s members for wearing police uniforms despite the fact it’s not functioning under the administrative control of the Sindh police.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2014.
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