LAHORE, July 30: The Punjab government is planning to launch a grand operation against key land-grabbers in the province as high-level consultative meetings are being held to shape up its legal nitty gitty.

Sources say that like in the past PML-N tenure when some high officials had been got arrested in Faisalabad in 1997 Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif wants to take some big action “to give a strong message to the resourceful law-breakers”.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has, however, reportedly opposed the move, arguing that the government lacks legal authority to get vacated any private land from occupiers through any executive action by police or any other law-enforcement agency.

The step, he asserts, will be immediately challenged in a court of law and thus the campaign will come to a halt. Aside from this, the minister fears that the agency to be used for ejecting the land-grabbers could and would misuse its authority by opening a new chapter of corruption.

The law minister, it is learnt, has suggested framing of some legal procedure and enactment on the subject like setting up of special courts similar to the ones hearing terrorism cases, and binding them to decide the illegal occupation cases within a stipulated timeframe like three months.—Amjad Mahmood