Ownership: Govt told not to change status of gurdawara land

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court on Thursday ordered the government to maintain status quo on gurdwara land sold to Defence Housing Authority by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).

Sikh Welfare Council’s Gulab Singh has challenged the sale of 230 kanals of Gurdwara Bibi Nanki in Lahore Cantonment.

The petitioner said a part of the land situated in Mota Singh village was Evacuee Trust Property attached to the gurdwara. He said being trust property it should be preserved but the ETPB had sold the land to DHA.

He said he had approached the ETPB with a request to not sell the property and transfer it to gurdwara for its expansion but the board had ignored his request.

The petitioner said sale violated Evacuee Trust Property (Management) Act 1975. He said the Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the matter and an LHC bench had restrained the ETPB from selling the land. A law officer told the court that the government was retrieving the land from the DHA. A counsel for the DHA stated that the court had restrained the government from getting the land back.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2014.