August 22, 2007	Wednesday	Sha’aban 8, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped the Punjab government from acquiring land for the Bahria Town in the foothills of Murree in the name of solving housing problem.

“Why the government is being used to benefit a private party?” asked Justice Raja Fayyaz during suo motu proceedings into complaints that revenue authorities were forcibly acquiring lands in picturesque Salkhaiter village, about 15 kilometres from Rawal Dam, for the development of Bahria Golf City.

Advocate Shafqat Abbasi representing the victims informed the five-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice M. Javed Buttar, Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, that the Punjab government had invoked Sections 4 and 17 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 dealing with emergency provisions to acquire lands for public purposes.

At this the CJ wanted to know about the emergency that made the provincial government to invoke section 17.

Rawalpindi District Coordination Officer (DCO) Irfan Ellahi read out the Punjab government’s June 15, 2006 notification which said the lands were to be acquired for Bahria Town to meet the housing needs of people. Land is being bought from the villagers at Rs130,000 per kanal.

Justice Buttar wondered if the DCO was satisfied before issuing the notification or he acted under some pressure.

Advocate Zafar Ali Shah representing Bahria Town denied that land was being acquired forcibly.

But the court told him to submit a concise statement and stayed the effect of Sections 4 and 17 of the antiquated Land Acquisition Act.

Salkhaiter is home to over 250 families who live in about 1,000 houses. There are government schools for boys and girls, drinking water schemes and an old graveyard. The petitioners claimed that more than 1,500 individuals owned and depended on their inherited lands’ agricultural produce for survival.

Dozens of men, women and children, carrying placards had also staged a protest demonstration outside the Supreme Court condemning the Bahria Town’s “forcible take over of over 659 kanals of land of our forefathers”.

In their application, the residents of the village accused Malik Riaz Hussain, the proprietor of the Bahria Town, of using different property dealers to lure innocent villagers into signing some mutations in their favour from Shamlat and Ghairmumkin lands and the hilly land under the Land Acquisition Act, which subsequently was purchased by the proprietors of the Bahria Golf City housing scheme.

The entire process was in violation of law as the government can acquire private land only for public purpose and welfare, the application said.

Soon after acquiring the land, the Bahria developers started bulldozing and excavating earth around the area adjacent to the Rawal Dam. If the activity was not checked, the dam would be silted and become inoperative, the application warned.

It alleged that the proprietors were notorious for land grabbing and were said to be generous in offering millions in kickbacks/commissions to government officials. As a result the revenue hierarchy of the provincial government, it alleged, had virtually become a handmaiden of Malik Riaz.

Whenever the alleged highhandedness of Bahria Town and its owner was put before the Senate and the National Assembly, the petition said, the matter was hushed up for favours offered by the accused to high ups, the petition said.

It alleged that Bahria Town had similarly acquired 2,300 kanals of land adjacent to Salkhaiter village and that powerful military generals and rich Chaudhary Brothers were partners in the surreptitious project.