LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bokhari has said the Punjab Property Ownership Ordinance against the land-grabbing mafia is not a declaration of war against anyone, but a safeguard for the legal rights of common citizens, widows, orphans, and overseas Pakistanis.
She said it is the government’s responsibility to present the other side of the picture before the public. She said that those who today are displaying extraordinary affection for the judiciary were the same individuals who harshly criticized it in the past.
“Chief Justice’s pictures were used for spectacle, the Toshakhana was taken home, and now questions are being raised about what a judge should do,” she added.
Azma Bokhari said that legal loopholes are always found for the powerful, but when the land of a widow, an orphan, or a sister is forcibly occupied, justice remains elusive for years. In many cases, brothers occupy their sisters’ property, or after a father’s death, uncles seize the land of orphaned children. Providing justice to such oppressed individuals, she emphasized, is the core purpose of this law.
She clarified that the Punjab Property Ownership Ordinance empowers authorities to act against the land-grabbing mafia — an organized network that has long been occupying land through fake mutations and bogus documents. Action against such illegal occupations, she said, cannot be termed wrong.
The minister further said that once illegal occupation is proven, the law mandates a decision within 90 days on a single application. So far, 5,044 cases have been decided, and properties have been restored to their rightful owners. In several instances, possession was retrieved within hours, providing immediate relief to widows and oppressed citizens.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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