The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday suspended its earlier order, which stopped the administration of Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi from leasing nearly 45,000 acres of land to the army for “corporate agriculture farming” on a 20-year lease.
The military had sought the land in Punjab’s Bhakkar, Khushab and Sahiwal districts for corporate agriculture farming under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had initiated the negotiations to give the aforementioned land to the army on lease and the interim administration has finalised the agreement.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) had ruled that the Punjab interim administration lacked the constitutional authority to transfer the state land to the Pakistan Army for corporate agro production.
In March this year, Justice Abid Hussain Chattha of the LHC rejected the interim administration’s decision to lease the land to the army, saying it was illegal and in violation of Section 230 of the Elections Act of 2017.
In April this year, the interim administration appealed the stay order that stopped the transfer of the land to the army.
A two-member bench presided over by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi addressed the government’s motion to reject the court’s decision during Monday’s hearing. The provincial administration was represented in court by Punjab Advocate General Khalid Ishaq.
In its appeal, the caretaker administration said the court’s ruling was contradictory and that the agricultural policy was outside of the court’s purview.
The administration said that any pending decision or policy from the previous administration might be implemented or finalised by the caretaker government in accordance with the law.
The court decided to temporarily postpone its earlier decision on the matter after the hearing.
Transfer of state land to Pakistan Army is unlawful, rules LHC
