PESHAWAR: The dispute about the purported ancestral house of acting legend Dilip Kumar took a new turn on Wednesday as the provincial government informed the Peshawar High Court that it had dropped the plan of acquiring the said property but declared it a protected antiquity with the owner being stopped from renovating it or making alteration to it.

Before a bench comprising Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Roohul Amin Khan, additional advocate general Rab Nawaz Khan produced a copy of the notification suggesting that the Peshawar deputy commissioner as land acquisition collector withdrew the idea of the house’s acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act few days ago.

The information prompted the bench to dispose of the petition of owner of the house in question, Haji Lal Mohammad Khan, who had requested the court to order the de-notification of the imposition of Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act invoked by the previous provincial government for purchasing the said house in 2012.

The bench observed that under Section 12 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Antiquities Act 1997, the petitioner could formally approach the government against declaration of his property as protected antiquity.

Tells PHC property a protected antiquity; owner can’t renovate or alter it

A day ago, the bench had asked the provincial government to clarify position whether it was interested in acquiring the house or not.

AAG Rab Nawaz Khan and coordinator of the archeology department Nawazuddin informed the bench that following issuance of the de-notification by the deputy commissioner/land acquisition collector, the provincial government had not been acquiring the property.

They, however, said on July 25, 2014, the archeology director had issued a notification whereby the said house was declared a protective antiquity under Section 11 of the KP Antiquities Act.

They said under the said law, the owner could not make any changes in the structure of the building and it was mandatory for him to preserve it.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Shahnawaz Khan, said the five-marla building situated in Mohallah Khudadad near Qissa Khwani was in dilapidated condition and could collapse anytime.

He argued that before invoking Section 11 of the Antiquities Act, the department had the right to acquire the building when the owner was selling it under Section 10 of the Act.

The counsel argued that on Nov 30, 2012, the previous provincial government had invoked section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for acquiring the property.

He said initially, the government had agreed to pay Rs30 million to the petitioner for the house but after meetings with the attorney of the petitioner, the government then made an offer of Rs11.224 million which was then raised to Rs14.246 million.

The counsel said the archeology director had issued the notification of declaring the property as protected antiquity last year on the basis of the notification issued by the government in 2012. He added that when the 2012 notification had now been de-notified then there was no legal status of the 2014 notification of the archeology director.

He added that the notification of the director was illegal.

The petitioner has also challenged the historical significance of the said residence saying several misinformation had been attached to the property in question.

He insisted while there was one claim that Dilip Kumar had spent his childhood in the house, it was contrary to facts on record as he was born in 1922 and his father had purchased the said property in 1943.

The petitioner added that the house could not be called Dilip Kumar’s ancestral property as his father had sold it out within three days of purchase.

He requested the court to allow him to sell, transfer, reconstruct or develop the property.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2015

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