DHA assets public ownership, cannot be leased at throwaway rates: Chief Justice

[Naveed Yaseen]

‘Army can’t interfere in civil matters unless asked’

By Masood Rehman

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday said the military was not authorised to interfere in civil matters unless its assistance was sought in an emergency situation.

A three-member bench that also included Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawwad Khawaja was conducting a suo motu hearing on applications by the Citizens’ Rights Forum Karachi and Mehfoozun Nabbi against the leasing of a plot of land to Makro Habib, a private company, by the army.

The applicants maintained the plot owned by the Defence Housing Authority, Karachi had been leased below market rate, where a super store catering only to the elite was set up.

Attorney General Latif Khosa informed the court the plot, owned by the army, had been allocated for training army recruits and was in no way a public property as claimed by the petitioners.

He said another plot of land in the area was now being used to train recruits.

The CJ said any property owned by the DHA was also public property and could not be leased at throwaway rates. The CJ said no army official was authorised to act in violation of the Trust Act.

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Army has no authority to interfere in civil matters: Chief Justice
QAMAR UZ ZAMAN
ISLAMABAD (September 03 2009): Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday observed that no army official including the chief of army staff is authorised to interfere in civil matters unless he is called for assistance by the civil administration in case of any emergency. Army is a public institution which is called for the welfare of people in special circumstances, otherwise, the institution has nothing to do with public affairs, remarked the Chief Justice.

A three-member bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja was hearing a suo motu notice taken on the applications of Citizens' Rights Forum Karachi and a citizen Mehfooz-un-Nabi against leasing out of a 4.9-acre Defence owned plot located in the Lines Area to Macro Habib, a private company, by the army authorities.

Advocate Mansoor Ali Shah appeared for the applicants. And the hearing of the case would resume today (Thursday). The applicants contended that the plot was leased out at very low rates to Macro Habib, which established a luxury super store, only meant for elite class.

He said it was a plot allocated for the training of army recruits and not a playground. However, another plot, adjacent to the leased out plot, was being managed for the recruits' training. It was not a public property instead owned by the Defence department, he added. The applicant contended that the children of elite class could utilise the benefits of leased out plot, adding where the children of poor would go?

Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa appeared before the court on notice and informed the court that the plot was the property of Defence and was leased out by the army. The Chief Justice observed that the Defence property was not the property of any individual instead it was a public property, which could not be leased out at throwaway prices.

The Chief Justice remarked 'no army official including the chief of army staff has the authority to take any step contrary to the provisions of Trust Act'. Army is a public institution, which can be called by the civil administration to tackle any emergency, however in normal circumstances the army institution has no authority to interfere in civil matters.

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