LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday stayed the proposed auction of dozens of commercial shops in Jaranwala leased out to tenants since the Partition.

Justice Malik Javaid Iqbal Wains issued the stay on a petition filed by at least 40 tenants.

The petitioners’ counsel, Chaudhry Shoaib Saleem, argued that the auction was unlawful and violated legally protected tenancy rights. He pointed out that some of these shops were constructed by the petitioners themselves in 2005 under a public-private arrangement while others were built by the municipal administration and leased out to tenants under oral and later formal agreements.

The lawyer said the petitioners had signed formal written tenancy agreements with the local municipal corporation in 2023 in line with the Punjab local government policies and a 2019 notification issued by the secretary of colonies.

He said that despite all this, the deputy commissioner Faisalabad issued an auction notice for shops already leased out to the petitioners. He said the petitioners had deposited significant security amounts — reportedly around Rs500,000 per shop in 2005 — which was still held by the government. He asked the court to set aside the impugned auction notification for being illegal.

After hearing initial arguments, the judge issued a stay order against the auction scheduled for July 25 and sought replies from the respondents.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2025