LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended its earlier order of stopping the transferring of land to the Pakistani armed forces for corporate farming on a 20-year lease.
In March, the Punjab government had signed an agreement to hand over at least 45,267 acres in three districts, Bhakkar, Khushab, and Sahiwal, to the Pakistan Army for “Corporate Agriculture Farming” (CAF).
However, the LHC had stopped the caretaker government from proceeding with its plan. The verdict was issued by Judge Abid Hussain Chattha on a petition filed by Ahmad Rafay Alam on behalf of Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan.
The order came Monday as a two-member bench — headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi — heard the Punjab government’s petition seeking the annulment of a ruling by the LHC’s single-member bench.
The Punjab government maintained that the complainants — Lahore-based lawyers — were not affected parties and noted that it is not the court’s job to regulate agricultural policies.
Punjab Advocate General Khalid Ishaq appeared on behalf of the provincial government in court today.
In the plea, the caretaker Punjab government argued that there was a contradiction in the court’s verdict, asserting that regulating agricultural policies was beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
The plea contended that the court’s earlier decision to stay the transfer of land was in violation of the law. According to the law, the caretaker government is authorised to implement or finalise any pending decision or policy from the previous government, it added.
After reviewing the petition’s contents, the court decided to suspend its previous ruling on the matter.
