LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday issued stay order, restraining Punjab government from leasing 45,276 acres of agriculture land to Pakistan Army in three districts for, what had been reported as, ‘Corporate Farming’ purpose.
لاہور ہائیکورٹ نے نگران حکومت کیجانب سے خلاف قانون افواج پاکستان کو پنجاب کے مختلف اضلاع میں 45 ہزار 276 ایکٹر زرعی اراضی کے نوٹیفکیشن پر عملدرآمد روک دیا،
عدالت نے فریقین کو نوٹس جاری کرتے ہوئے 5 مئی تک سے شق وار دلائل جمع کروانے کی ہدایت کردی pic.twitter.com/HzL5XHWdeb— Shakir Mehmood Awan (@ShakirAwan88) March 31, 2023
It may be recalled that in March this year, the caretaker government of Punjab has handed over at least 45,267 acres of land in tehsils Kaloor Kot and Mankera in Bhakkar, 1,818 acres in tehsils Quaidabad and Khushab in Khushab, and 725 acres in tehsil Chichawatni of Sahiwal.
Also read: Punjab caretaker govt awards 45,000 acres land to Army for ‘corporate farming’: Report
Days after allotting the agriculture land to the military, the caretaker Punjab government justified its move, saying “From the onset, it should be clear that the ownership of the land remains with the Punjab government and the Pakistan army is only providing a management structure; the corporate sector and local farmers will also be involved in the cultivation process.”
Also read: Punjab govt justifies allocation of 45,000 acres of agriculture land to Army
The move by the caretaker government of Punjab was challenged in Lahore High Court in a petition pointing towards the random and covert nature of this transaction.
In the petition, the ground was taken that
- The notification was issued by the Governor of Punjab—but Section 10 of the colonisation act says that the provincial government (and not the governor) sets the conditions.
- Even if we assume that the Government of Punjab advised the Governor to issue this notification, that is not allowed either. These conditions on how leases would be granted create land ownership (or proprietary) rights which would last several years. The Government of Punjab right now is not an elected provincial government but a caretaker set-up to last until the General Elections are held. The rules for caretaker governments (in the Elections Act) say that no caretaker government is allowed to take any decisions which are long term and would prejudice the rights of governments elected in the future.
- All of this is being done in a “directed transaction” as recognised by the statement of conditions in the notification. A “directed transaction” is one that happens behind closed doors. No public participation is taking place. The doctrine of public trust says that all land held by a government are in trust for the people and are to be dealt with transparently.
- The army does not have the official power (mandate) to do corporate agricultural farming (whatever that means).
Hearing the arguments, the LHC on Friday halted implementation on the notification of agricultural land allocation, and while issuing notices to the relevant parties, instructed to submit para-wise responses till May 5, 2023.
