CJ to Sindh govt: quit if you can’t perform

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Sindh government to submit a comprehensive reply by January 9 over illegal allotment of some 70,000 acres of land on lease as well as details pertaining to thousands of acres of land which was illegally occupied.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar resumed hearing into the case pertaining to illegal allotment of government land on lease as well as 1,45,000 acres of forest land which was encroached allegedly.

The chief justice observed that order of the court was not implemented in letter and spirit regarding recovery of the state land adding that those who are not capable of running the government should leave. The chief justice recalled that they had directed the Survey General of Pakistan to fix the boundaries of the four provinces but he was not sure whether it had submitted a report or not.

During the course of hearing, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took strong exception to the Sindh government’s lack of interest in recovering thousands of acres of land illegally allotted and grabbed land.

Appearing on notice, Additional Advocate General Sindh informed the court that 70,000 acres of land was illegally leased and the lease had still not been cancelled. The law officer however, said that demarcation of forest land was underway.

The chief justice asked the law officer about the decision of the provincial government regarding the forest land and further questioned as to whether the provincial government has recovered the forest land from illegal occupation. Justice Ijazul Ahsan questioned as to how a land developer got hold of forest land.

At this Qazi Athar, the petitioner submitted that the property developer was given 11,000 acres of forest land in Karachi and another 4,000 acres in Nawabshah.

The chief justice observed that forests are very important for the environment and expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the provincial government in implementing the court’s orders in letter and spirit.

The chief justice said if the provincial government was not capable of performing its duties, it should leave the government. The chief justice observed that he has never seen a government that is admitting that its land has been illegally occupied but is still not taking any action.

The petitioner alleged that former president had converted Forest Department's 2.8 million acres into revenue land, adding that the matter later declared null and void by the Sindh High Court.

Furthermore, the petitioner claimed that former chief minister did not get a satellite survey of the land despite the court orders.

The petitioner told the court that the land was later transferred to people in complete violation of the court orders.

At this, the chief justice ordered the Bahria Town CEO to appear before the court in the next hearing. The chief justice said it was illegally occupying 18,000 acres of forest land.

Meanwhile, the court directed the Sindh government to submit a comprehensive reply by January. The court also summoned provincial minister for forest and chief secretary.