GUJRAT: The overseas Pakistanis have been asked to seek land clearance certificate from the respective revenue department prior to purchasing a property anywhere in their native or other town as district land scrutiny committees have been constituted across the Gujranwala region.

The region having a large number of expatriates would often face problems regarding property-related matters at the hands of their close kin or the land grabbing groups in their native towns.

Two separate committees have been constituted in every district in the name of “district land scrutiny committee” and “serving expats committee” that would be headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue (ADCR) and Additional Deputy Commissioner General (ADCG) respectively whereas such committees will be headed by the assistant commissioners at tehsil level.

The DSP (legal), district attorney, two prominent lawyers, representatives of overseas Pakistanis and district heads of all federal and provincial departments have been notified as its members, as per a notification issued by the Gujranwala commissioner to all the deputy commissioners of six districts of the region.

The district and tehsil land scrutiny committees have been assigned the task to issue land clearance certificate to an expat after scrutiny of last five periodical records of the concerned area within a week only after which an expat should purchase any property.

The committees have been asked to resolve the possession of land or property issues of overseas within a month and fard (ownership document) will be issued to them within 24 hours.

Similarly oral mutation (three days), demarcation of land (15 days), correction of record (15 days), and partition of land will be done in 60 days for the expat community whereas revenue court cases should also be decided within 60 days.

The legal aid committees for overseas assistance have also been constituted at divisional, district and tehsil level. A dedicated room - House of Overseas Pakistanis - in every district complex has also been designed where the expats can visit for lodging their complaints with those committees.

Official sources said the district overseas committees had already been functioning under Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC), Punjab, in every district where all the heads of police, administration and law department were members.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2021