HYDERABAD, Sept 3: A division bench of the Sindh High Court here on Wednesday asked the Sindh secretary works and services and Sanghar DCO to appear before the court in connection with two separate issues of land acquisition.

The petitioners - Nabi Bux and others - said after their lands were taken by the land acquisition officer (LAO) on February 10, 2000, the land acquisition award was also passed, but the executive engineer highway division Sanghar, filed an application under section 18(3) of the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) in a referee court against the award, which he, later on, withdrew on May 31, 2000.

They said the referee court also rejected the reference, filed by the same LAO on September 29, 2001. He then filed an application for review of the dismissal order which was also dismissed by the judge on January 18,2003.

They said that they demanded the payment of award but their advocate replied that only a small amount would be paid to them after funds were received by the government.

They said that to date they were not given the payment nor the respondents deposited it in the district court Sanghar, despite the fact that it was mandatory under section 31(2) of the LAA.

The petitioners’ counsel said the respondents were bound to make the payment of the amount or deposit it before the district court. He said that respondents had violated mandatory provisions of the LAA and article 24 of the Constitution.

He prayed the court to direct the respondents to make payment of award along with all mandatory benefits under the LAA.

The court ordered that a notice be issued to secretary services and works to appear before the court on September 18.

In two other identical matters, the bench also took serious notice of a statement given by the DDO, revenue, Sinjhoro, that he had been unable to trace the record of petitioners on land acquisition proceedings.

The DDO had attended the court in response to a contempt of court application filed by the petitioners’ counsel, Ghulam Rasool Qureshi.

The plea was filed on the grounds that the DDO had violated the high court’s order of November 28, 2002 that land acquisition proceedings should be concluded within a period of two months.