The Lahore High Court (LHC) has halted the transfer of 45,267 acres of land to the Pakistan Army for the purpose of corporate farming. The land was to be leased for 20 years to the army, with a possible 10-year extension, in three districts - Bhakkar, Khushab, and Sahiwal. The Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan (Pilap), a not-for-profit legal organization, moved the LHC against the agreement, arguing that the notification was illegal as the caretaker government of a province had no power under the constitution to take such a decision.
Pilap's counsel argued that the Punjab Colonies Department's notification to hand over the land was issued under Section 10 of the Colonisation of Government Lands (Punjab) Act 1912. They argued that the scope of the caretaker government was limited to performing day-to-day functions and that it had no power to make policy decisions of a permanent nature. The counsel contended that the purported handing over of the land was also in violation of the Doctrine of Public Trust, which states that the government is responsible for protecting certain natural resources and cannot give them away to private citizens arbitrarily.
Justice Abid Hussain Chattha, after hearing the arguments, passed an order to halt the transfer of land for corporate farming and issued notices to the respondents for submission of reports by May 9. The counsel argued that the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, does not empower the entity to undertake any activity beyond its scope for welfare, unless the federal government expressly grants permission to do so. The army neither has the jurisdiction to directly or indirectly engage in business ventures outside its scope nor can it claim any state land for corporate agriculture farming.
No comments:
Post a Comment