LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Thursday granted more time to the law officer appearing on behalf of government for filing of reply and extended the stay order restraining the authorities from proceeding with the auction of commercial shops in Jaranwala.
Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad heard the cases filed by the shopkeepers from Jaranwala concerning the proposed auction of commercial shops in different areas of the district.
The petitioners, represented by Ch Shoaib Saleem, Advocate, contended that the Member Colonies had erred in interpreting the law by not applying the Punjab Local Government Act 2022 to leases involving property of the provincial government.
The counsel argued that the petitioners had entered into lease agreements with the respondents after proper assessment and evaluation of the rents of the shops. He submitted that the petitioners had been running their businesses from the premises for several decades and had been regularly paying rents which, in some cases, were higher than the reserved rents advertised by the authorities for the proposed auction.
Ch Shoaib advocate further argued that the petitioners had constructed the shops at their own expense and had also deposited Rs500,000 each as security with the respective municipal committees.
He contended that after accepting rent from the petitioners for years under the existing lease arrangements, the respondents could not simply deny the agreements, referring to Article 114 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984, regarding the effect of admissions and conduct.
During the proceedings, the law officer sought further time to file replies in the petitions. He submitted that the cases involved different categories and that dividing them category-wise would facilitate the government in preparing replies in the similar matters.
Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad, however, observed that there was no need to worry about categorising the cases, saying that he would hear all the petitioners so that everyone was treated in accordance with the law.
The court subsequently extended the stay order already granted in favour of the petitioners and adjourned the proceedings until October 2026.
Earlier, a divisional bench of the Lahore High Court headed by Justice Waqar Haider Awan, while hearing an intra court appeal involving the same controversy, had restrained the authorities from proceeding with the auction, and had forwarded the matter to the Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad to decide the case afresh as to why the govt wants to auction the shops notwithstanding lease agreements that too when the petitioners are already paying more rents that the proposed reserved rent for auction of the shops. The Deputy Commissioner had appeared in person in the court.
