RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered the military and land owners to settle a 40-year-old dispute through mediation.

Justice Jawad Hassan of LHC, Rawalpindi Bench, issued the order on Tuesday and set a three-month deadline for the mediation process.

The dispute is over 250 kanals of land acquired by the military in the early 1980s in Shamsabad, Rawalpindi, for defence purposes. Later, the land’s status was changed to commercial and Panorama Shopping Centre was built over it.

During the proceedings on Tuesday, petitioners’ lawyer, Sardar Muhammad Ghazi, informed the court that the clients filed the case under Article 199 of the Constitution. They had sought an amicable settlement of disputes related to their acquired land, particularly the issue of fair market compensation.

He highlighted that the prolonged litigation has distressed the landowners, who were now inclined to settle the matter outside court through mediation.

The military authorities, through a letter dated June 24, had already expressed their willingness to settle the dispute out of court. He noted that one of the landowners, Chaudhary Riaz Ahmed, had already shown willingness to settle the matter out of court and had written to the Army Air Defence Command, Rawalpindi, in this regard.

The authorities, in response to the letter, said, “…the request has been considered at appropriate level and [Headquarters Command] has agreed to resolve the matter of price/compensation through out of court settlement, subject to withdrawal of all writ petitions related to Ohjri Camp land”.

During the proceedings on Tuesday, Advocate Ghazi cited Supreme Court judgments, including Messrs Mughals Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd vs EOBI (PLD 2025 SC 1) and Muhammad Naseer Butt vs Additional District Judge, Lahore, to emphasise the constitutional and statutory backing for mediation under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2017.

Justice Hassan, while disposing of the matter, acknowledged the petitioners’ decision and directed the relevant authorities to expedite the mediation process.

He ordered that meetings for dispute resolution should be held at a time and place suited to the respondents. The entire exercise must be completed strictly in accordance with the law in three months, the judge ordered.

In 2012, the LHC had directed the Ministry of Defence to either vacate the land or compensate the owners. However, the decision was not implemented.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2025