Lahore HC raps Pak's Defence Housing Authority for illegally occupying land, calls army 'biggest land grabber'

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan has lashed out at the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) for its involvement in illegal occupation of lands, regretting that the army seems to have become the "biggest land grabber".

The Chief Justice was hearing petitions of three citizens seeking an order against the DHA to not disturb their lawful possession of the land they had obtained on lease from the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Dawn reported.

Khan noted that the army had also grabbed a piece of land measuring 50-kanal owned by the high court, adding that he would instruct the LHC registrar to write a letter to the chief of the army staff in this regard.

DHA's counsel Altafur Rehman Khan expressed his ignorance about the occupation of the high court's land, after which the Chief Justice said that the corps commander of Lahore could be summoned to verify the fact.

According to Dawn, the judge observed that the uniform of the army was for service and not to rule as a king.

"The way the army occupies the properties of people is nothing but land grabbing," he added.

Meanwhile, advocate Asif Imran Awan, the counsel for the petitioners, pointed out that no reply had been submitted to the petitions as the DHA belonged to the army.

Chief Justice Khan further maintained that no one had ever dared to refuse filing a reply in his court during his 11-year stay in the LHC. He also directed the DHA's counsel to make the administrator appear before the court on Thursday.

He also asked the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) to better leave the job if he could not take any action against the illegal occupations by the DHA, Dawn reported.

"Is it only the army that makes sacrifices? Do other institutions like police, lawyers and judges not make sacrifices?" the chief justice asked.

Petitioners Zeeshan Mehboob, Raheel Tufail and Zulfiqar Hussain had got different chunks of land allotted on a three-year lease from the ETPB for cultivation purposes in Mota Singhwala, Lidhar and Dera Chahal Mauzas near Bedian Road in Lahore.

A counsel for the ETPB also told the court that the petitioners were the lawful owners of the land in question, Dawn reported.

( With inputs from ANI )