LAHORE: The issue of lease of 150 acres of land to Gymkhana Club in the provincial capital again echoed in the Punjab Assembly on Monday as Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja told the house that the facility that was leased out for just Rs5,000 per year, pays Rs260 million electricity bill per annum.

The minister told the house that the club had been given lease of land up to 2050 against in 1996.

He said earlier the lease amount was just Rs16 per acre.

He said that the club was also paying Rs260 million per annum as power bill. He added that liquor was also being illegally sold at the facility.

Club pays Rs260m electricity bill per annum: house told

Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan regretted that poor peasants had been given land in Cholistan desert at a rate of Rs25,000 per acre, while the elite class grabbed hundreds of acres of land in the urban centre against the payment of a paltry amount.

Treasury MPA Samiullah Khan suggested that a day should be fixed for general discussion on the Gymkhana Club.

Meanwhile, opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachhar, demanded setting up of a judicial commission to investigate the events of May 9, 2023.

Taking part in the general discussion on law and order during the assembly session requisitioned by the opposition, he said that any investigation conducted without a judicial commission into the May 9 incidents would remain controversial and unauthentic.

He asked how many PTI activists had been challaned in May 9 cases, adding that six cases had been registered against him, though not a single case under Section 144 was made against him before May 9.

He said the law and order situation could be fine according to the government, but it was not so for the PTI, alleging that Punjab police inspector general had been given the target of torturing every PTI worker making a public move.

Earlier, finance and parliamentary affairs minister Mujtaba Shuja claimed that the law and order situation had improved as compared with the previous year’s.

Opening general discussion on law and order, he highlighted the police role against terrorism, drug mafia, electricity theft, kite flying and in providing security to Chinese citizens in the province.

He said the police had also conducted a successful operation against dacoits of Katcha (riverine) area, car and motorcycle theft, as well as inter-provincial smuggling.

He said that modern facilities were being provided to the police on the direction of the chief minister, while the network of the Punjab Safe Cities Authority cameras was being expanded to other towns of the province.

Opposition member Sheikh Imtiaz and treasury’s Samiullah Khan exchanged hot words as the opposition resorted to shouting slogans and thumping of desks.

The speaker warned both sides against resorting to cross talk and using non-parliamentary language. “Make arguments in favour of your leadership, but avoid cross talk or violating the sanctity of the house by using abusive words.”

Later, the chair prorogued the house for an indefinite time on completion of its agenda.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024