LAHORE: In compliance with a Supreme Court’s (SC) order of 2016, the district administration led by a sessions judge has handed over land worth billions of rupees donated by philanthropist Sardar Kaura Khan Jatoi for poor children to a trust established in his name.

The registration process for the Sardar Kora Khan Jatoi Trust was completed three days ago and the formal certificate had also been issued.

According to details, a petition was filed in the SC in the 1990s by nationalist leader Sardar Muzaffar Khan Magasi to request that the resources generated from the thousands of acres of land donated by Mr Jatoi be spent solely on the education of poor children. It also highlighted large-scale corruption in the revenues of the donated land.

For 25 years, Mr Magasi appeared before the SC, contesting the case for the education of poor children in the Muzaffargarh district. After 25 years, in its decision on the case, the SC issued orders to establish a trust for the management of the land and to place the donated land under the trust, directing that its resources be spent on the education of poor children.

On the orders of SC, the land of Mr Jatoi was identified and encroachments on the land were also removed. In its decision, the court also declared the supervisor of the affairs of the Sardar Kaura Khan Trust.

Nine years after the SC decision, the formal registration process of the Sardar Kaura Khan Trust was completed and its certificate was issued. Now, the 88,000 kanals of land of the Sardar Kaura Khan Trust, worth billions of rupees, and the income generated from it will be managed by the trust. The trust will be responsible for the management of this land and for spending the income generated from it on the education of poor children in the district.

Upon the completion of the formal registration of the trust, Mr Magasi submitted an application to the trust’s chairman, Muzaffargarh District and Sessions Judge Jaleel Ahmed, demanding that instead of appointing a director and deputy directors for the management of Sardar Kaura Khan’s land and wasting resources, only one retired tehsildar and two retired patwaris should be appointed.

He said that canal water was not being provided to the tenants of the Sardar Kaura Khan Trust’s land, which could lead to a decrease in the trust’s income. He demanded that the rights of the trust’s land tenants be protected and that they be ensured a supply of canal water through the cleaning of canals and other measures. This would increase the income of the trust and resources could be provided for free education to more poor children of the Muzaffargarh district, he maintained.

Civil society leader Rana Muhammad Afzal and Advocate Fariduddin congratulated the trust’s chairman and Mr Magasi on the registration of the Sardar Kaura Khan Trust. They demanded that the affairs of Sardar Kaura Khan’s property and its income be formally audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan and that those involved in the embezzlement of billions of rupees from this property in previous periods be brought to justice and given exemplary punishment.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2025