GUJRAT: The Higher Education Department (HED), Punjab, in violation of rules as well as a Supreme Court ruling, has permitted the sports department to execute the construction of a stadium/shopping market over 92 kanal land belonging to Govt Zamindar College, Gujrat, despite the fact the college land cannot be used for any purpose other than educational activities.

The HED, in its letter written to the Gujrat deputy commissioner six days ago, in response to the latter’s official correspondence, has declined to issue a no objection certificate (NOC) regarding transfer of Zamindar College’s land to the sports department but at the same it said it was a plausible option to construct the stadium and other facilities as part of the government Zamindar College, Gujrat.

The HED’s letter also carries the reference of a Supreme Court decision according to which the ownership of properties and assets of the nationalised educational institutions will remain with the parent management body and the assets of the such institutions cannot be transferred to the government or used for any purpose.

The Zamindar College was established by Nawab Sir Fazal Ali’s Zamindar Education Association back in 1936 but it was nationalised by the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto regime in 1970s.

The then DC of Gujrat had ordered a mutation of the said piece of college land in the name of sports department without having any NOC from the education department and the Board of Revenue which was a mandatory condition for such mutations within department.

A sports gymnasium and an e-library had already been built at the same portion of the said piece of land which has been a prime land for being located along top commercial hub of the city along Bhimbher Road and now the PML N’s city mayor Haji Nasir Mahmood and his nephew, MPA Imran Zafar, have proposed a scheme of establishing a sports complex/shopping market which was approved by the Punjab Sports Department in 2016-17.

When the construction work was launched in January this year, Zamindar Education Association’s incumbent head Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gull and his brother PML-N MNA Nawabzada Mazhar Ali Khan, who are the grandsons of Sir Fazal Ali, filed a written complaint with the Gujrat DC to stop execution of the work on the college land.

The DC constituted an inquiry committee headed by Additional District Collector (revenue) Musa Raza that pointed out serious violations in the transfer of land and recommended the cancellation of mutation occurred in favour of the sports department, and the Gujrat DC as well as the Gujranwala commissioner have so far endorsed the decision of cancellation of the mutation by terming it against the rules.

However, upon pressure from the mayor and the MPA, the DC sought an NOC and direction from the HED secretary regarding the project’s execution but the HED declined to issue any NOC but at the same time, it allowed the execution of the sports complex project.

The HED has also endorsed the land revenue department’s decision of canceling the mutation in favour of the sports department.

The DC held a high-level meeting of the stakeholders on the issue on Monday last at his office where sources said the issue was discussed in detail whereas Ghazanfar Gull and the mayor group separately called on DC Muhammad Ali and apprised him of their grievances regarding the project’s fate.

Mr. Gull told Dawn the decision of constructing a sports complex at the college land was a sheer violation of apex court’s decision and he would contest the HED’s decision of allowing the project at every forum since the college land could not be used for any purpose other than that of education.

On the other hand it is learnt that the mayor group has asked the sports department to restart construction work at the site after a written approval by the HED in this regard.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2018