LHC settles 63-year-old land dispute in Punjab govt’s favour

The Lahore High Court (LHC) pronounced the decision in 63-year-old land dispute case in the favour of Punjab government on Saturday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Justice Anwaar Hussain of the Lahore High Court ordered Ata Rasool, the citizen, to return to the provincial government the land he had been granted in Khushab in 1958 on lease for a period of three years for ‘Grow More Food’ scheme.

The seven-page decision has also been called a judicial precedent.

The decision reads that the case was related to an eight kanals of government land which had been granted to Ata Rasool, the citizen, on lease in 1958 for a period of three years in connection with the ‘Grow More Food’ scheme which had been introduced in 1958.

The verdict further reads that Ata Rasool, who had been occupying the land, could not prove in the court that the land was again allotted to him on the completion of three-year lease term.

It says that despite the fact that the Punjab government had been trying to auction the land for the last six decades, but Ata was blocking all these attempts through litigation.

The court directed the Punjab government to not only get its land back, but also order the citizen to pay tax on it right from 1958.

The land granted to Ata in 1958 was confiscated by Extra Assistant Commissioner Colonies in 1967.

The additional commissioner, however, in 1977 declared the allotment of land to the citizen legal.

But member Board of Revenue in 1994 had declared the additional commissioner’s declaration null and void.

And when several applications filed by Ata were rejected, he took the provincial government to the civil court, which also rejected his claim in 2011.

And when Ata appealed the Civil Court’s decision, the verdict came in his favour following which the Punjab government had moved the LHC.

Reporter Malik Ashraf