Shahbaz airport: SC orders review of private land's valuation

Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ordered review of valuation of private land acquired for Shahbaz Airbase in Jacobabad. A division bench of SC headed Justice Mushir Alam issued the orders in response to the petition of Ainayatullah and Nisar Ahmed, residents of Jacobabad district Sindh, who pleaded that price paid for acquisition of land for the airbase is not up to the market value.
The petitioners submitted that the land acquired at the price of Rs 50000 per acre, falling in the jurisdiction of Jacobabad city was not acceptable to them. A total of 67 acres of land of the petitioners was acquired. The Land Acquisition Officer of Airbase told the bench that one thousand acres of land was acquired for Shahbaz Airbase in 2008 and the price of land was paid to their owners on the basis of market value of that time.
The land acquired for the airbase lies one kilometer away from the jurisdiction of city, the officer said when Justice Faisal Arab inquired about the distance of acquired land from the urban jurisdiction of the district.
Land Acquisition Officer told the court that petitioners have only 67 acres of land whereas the owners of remaining land have received the amount against their property. Court ordered to review to value of the land acquired for the airbase and directed that all the details should be produced in the court in the next hearing.