Punjab revenue authorities ordered to retrieve state land from sugar mill

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ordered Punjab revenue authorities to retrieve 800 kanal state land from Hamza Sugar Mills (not owned by ruling Sharifs) in Bahawalpur and recover penalty amount for using state land for many years.
Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi issued this order while dismissing a petition of Hamza Sugar Mills requesting the court to declare their possession legal. The petitioner to justify their possession on land submitted that the state land 800 kanal at Mohal chak no.1/P, tehsil Khanpur, district Rahimyar Khan, which was adjacent to the Hamza Sugar Mills was barren, un-cultivable and waste and the petitioner took the land into its possession and developed it by investing a huge amount of money.
The petitioner also challenged the judgements of trial courts qua assessment of the market value plus imposition of 10 percent surcharge recoverable from them. The law officers, present in the court, told that the same matter was also taken up in this court and the court referred the matter to the senior member, Board of Revenue, Punjab, Lahore, with the consent of both the parties. The senior member, Board of Revenue, after a detailed exercise has furnished a report assessing the market value of the land, in question, but after going through such report, the petitioner backed out from its earlier commitment and objected to the assessment made by the senior member.
On this, the court declared that there was no concluded agreement between the parties and plaintiff remained in illegal and unauthorised occupation of the state land. The court also observed that the petitioner wants to continue its illegal possession over the state land and at the same time has no intention to pay even a single penny either towards penalty or at least compensation for use and unauthorised occupation of the land. The court dismissed the petition and allowed the revenue authorities to re-enter the possession of the state land encroached upon by the plaintiff and amount of penalty, whichever has been assessed by the revenue authorities, be recovered from the plaintiff, as arrears of the land revenue.