DHA claim over evacuee land riles LHC chief justice.

Byline: Wajih Ahmad Sheikh

LAHORE -- Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Friday was irked when it transpired that the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) also claimed its ownership on a land of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) illegally occupied by the police.

'Now I understand as to why the police department has been reluctant to evacuate its possession from the land,' the chief justice said.

A provincial government's application revealed that there was a litigation pending before a civil court on a suit of the DHA against the Elite Police Training School (EPTS).

Additional Advocate General Asif Bhatti further told the court that the civil court issued a stay order in favour of the DHA. He said in the presence of the stay order the possession of the land could not be given to the ETPB.

Expressing concern over the involvement of the DHA in the matter, Chief Justice Khan noted that the housing authority also faced a scam of plots allocated for the families of the martyrs.

'It seems the police want to usurp the land in connivance with the DHA,' the chief justice remarked and added that no one was above the law.

'You people are trying to grab the land meant for the minorities,' the CJ reminded Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani and other government officials present in court.

The law officer said the DHA claimed to have purchased the land from the ETPB, however, the police training school kept the possession with it for security reasons. He also presented a map of the land in question prepared by the office of the deputy commissioner.

He said the exchange deed between the ETPB and the EPTS had not been approved by the deputy commissioner.

CJ Khan pointed out that the land of the ETPB could not be sold or purchased, however, could be leased out for the purpose of earning.

The government's application revealed that the land in question was exchanged by retired Maj Sanaullah, then in-charge monitoring of the EPTS in 2003...