LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has held that after the enactment of the Evacuee Property and Displaced Persons Act, 2022, all the evacuee properties have become public properties.
The court observed that under the Act, the evacuee properties have stood transferred to the government which has also a limited jurisdiction to utilize such land only for the public purposes.
The Evacuee Property now do not fall within the jurisdiction of chief settlement commissioner or any authorized officer or the full board of the revenue board to decide its permanent disposal in any manner the court added.
The court also observed that the superior courts have also settled this issue that the evacuee property, either urban or agricultural, can only be disposed of by the authorities through public auction.
The court passed this order in a petition in which the petitioners claimed that their predecessor Noor Muhammad had purchased land in question from one Abdul Sattar
The court set aside the petition and observed that decision of the chief settlement commissioner allowing the appellant to purchase the land in question on market price is a violation of law for being a kind of a private treaty.
The court held that the chief settlement commissioner has no jurisdiction to sell the evacuee land through private treaty as the only mode for disposal of the state assets is the public auction.
The court said as far as the claim of the petitioners who asserted to be bona fide subsequent purchasers of the property in question is concerned, the petitioners are subsequent purchasers of the evacuee property from Abdul Sattar whose allotment was cancelled and the land was resumed, the court added.
The court said the petitioners claimed that their predecessor Noor Muhammad purchased land from Abdul Sattar but to prove their assertion, no document was produced, the court added.
The court said the petitioner has not been able to point out any illegality or material irregularity in the impugned order and has also not identified any jurisdictional defect calling for interference by this court.
The court said the land in question is admittedly a public property and the courts of law are custodian of the public properties, and it is the duty of the courts to be very careful and cautious that no mischief is being played with the state assets, the court added.
The object is to eliminate the nefarious elements of favouritism, nepotism and the corrupt practices as well as to provide a fair equitable opportunity to every citizen of Pakistan to take advantage from public assets, the court concluded.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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