KARACHI, Nov 18: The Supreme Court stayed on Thursday the operation of a Sindh High Court order restoring a 48-acre lease of land in Gadap to a petitioner.

Admitting a Sindh and city district government petition for leave to appeal against the impugned SHC order of Sept 13, an SC bench, comprising Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and Justices Syed Deedar Hussain Shah and Abdul Hameed Dogar, asked the parties to submit their concise statements within three weeks for regular hearing on a date to be fixed by office. About 700 acres of state land was leased out by the deputy commissioner of district west to over 145 people in 1986 for 30 years in Scheme-45 for poultry and livestock farming under the Colonization of Government Land Act, 1912.

The scheme was developed by the (defunct) KDA and subsequently transferred to the MDA. The city district government's executive district officer for revenue terminated all the leases under one of its provisions that permitted the leasing authority to cancel the allotments and resume the government land.

Ms Samina, a leaseholder, challenged the cancellation of her lease over a 48-acre farm. A division bench, comprising Justices Sabihuddin Ahmed and Mohammad Afzal Soomro, set aside the cancellation order on the ground that there was nothing on record to show that the petitioner was issued a show cause notice before cancellation of her lease.

The provincial and city district governments challenged the decision through Additional Advocate-General Dr Qazi Khalid Ali, who submitted that once two individuals had entered a contract, their rights and obligations in respect of subject-matter were to be regulated by the terms of the agreement. The human rights jurisdiction of superior courts could not be invoked for enforcement of contractual obligations. Besides, there were many disputed questions of facts, including issuance of show cause notices to all the leaseholders that placed the matter beyond the purview of the high court's writ jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution.

The AAG said show cause notices were issued to all leaseholders whose allotments were cancelled but their copies could not be produced at the time of proceedings as the districts were undergoing reorganization in accordance with the provisions of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance. Offices and functions were being bifurcated and redistributed. The absence of copies could not, by itself and apart from all other attending circumstances, be treated as a valid ground for allowing a petition.

The petition, he said, involved a matter of public policy, which could not be set aside or altered on technical grounds.

About 700 acres held by about 145 people were affected by the court order on an individual leaseholder's petition. The impugned short order, he argued, was also hit by Section 24A of the General Clauses Act.