LAHORE, July 29: The Lahore High Court on Thursday suspended the operation of a gazette notification under which the Pakistan Rangers was authorized to purchase a vast tract of land for a housing society.

The Pakistan Rangers set up a cooperatives housing society and applied to the government for purchase of 300 acres at Sadhoki, near Kahna Nau. The government allowed the deal and issued a gazette notification on May 15, which authorized the Pakistan Rangers Cooperative Housing Society to acquire land at official prices.

A similar order was passed by the court last week when the notification was challenged by a landlord, Mohammad Muzaffar. The notification was challenged by eight more landlords through separate writ petitions on the plea that their land formed the bulk area of the housing society that wanted to purchase it at a price much lower than the market price, which was up to Rs5 million an acre.

The counsel, Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry, challenged the notification on grounds that the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 allowed acquisition of land only for public welfare schemes.

The society, he submitted, was set up by a particular class of people who wanted to benefit another class. The housing scheme was in no way a public welfare project and did not warrant acquisition of land.

Mr Chaudhry contended that the Land Housing Acquisition Act of 1973 stood repealed and no law existed on statute books to allow acquisition of land for housing purposes.

Suspending the notification, Justice Javed Buttar issued notices to federal and provincial governments for a reply to the questions raised in the petition. The counsel submitted that the society was not barred from purchasing land at market prices, as was being done by many other private housing schemes.