Lahore: LHC orders removal of encroachments from graveyards

[Naveed Yaseen]

JUSTICE Ali Akbar Qureshi of the Lahore High Court has ordered the Lahore district coordination officer (DCO) Lahore to remove encroachments from all graveyards of the provincial capital within two months.

On Wednesday, the DCO appeared before the court and submitted a report detailing measures taken for the removal of encroachments on Miani Sahib Graveyard.

The report said that all unauthorised occupants had been removed, and illegal shops had been sealed around the graveyard. It said that Mian Sahib Graveyard Committee would carry out a survey and encroachments will be removed on a priority basis. The DCO was ordered to file a comprehensive report by Justice Qureshi in a petition challenging the encroachments made by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) on the land of Miani Sahib Graveyard.

Petitioner Sayed Muhammad Tariq Shah submitted that he had been a member of Miani Sahib Graveyard Committee from 1985 to 2005. He said the LDA was trying to occupy a piece of land of the graveyard and soon the tombs of Sayed Pir Bokhari and Bauji Sarkar would be demolished which were situated on the land.

The petitioner submitted that he was a Mureed (follower) of Pir Bokhari and Bauji Sarkar. He said the Colonies Department had ordered to sell the land. The petitioner stated that on January 22, 2005, three kanal, 18 marlas and 275 square feet piece of state land, situated in Mozang, was sold to LDA at the rate of Rs 360000 per marla to further allotment to 81 shopkeepers/affectees of WASA Drain Chowk Chauburji Lahore.

The petitioner submitted that the sale of the land was against the Punjab Graveyards (Reservations and Maintenance) Act 1958 and the Miani Sahib Graveyard Ordinance 1962 had defined the boundary of the graveyard. The sale deed, signed on 15/3/2007 by means of which the land of Miani Sahib was sold to LDA, is illegal and unlawful. Meanwhile, Member Colonies, Board of Revenue (BoR), also presented a report explaining the reasons on which the land was transferred to LDA. The report said that on September 15, 1998, the LDA had submitted a summary to the Chief Minister Punjab intimating that to resettle 81 shopkeepers displaced by WASA and LDA, the said land had been identified by the committee formed by the CM. After obtaining views of various officers (other than BoR), the CM, on June 26, 1999, approved resettlement of the said shopkeepers on the said land, report said. It further said that the member colonies had opposed the transfer of the land free of cost and pointed out that it could only be transferred as per policy on the payment of current market price. Subsequently, the report added that another summary was forwarded by LDA on October 2, 2004 proposing that the BoR might allow the sale of the said land on deferred payment. And member colonies forwarded the summary to CM recommending to recover the price from 81 shopkeepers in 14 installments.

The report assured the court that the matter had been re-examined, and a summary had also been submitted to Chief Minister proposing to pay back the price received from LDA and allotment of alternate land to the said 81 shopkeepers by LDA in one of its scheme. Thus the original status of the disputed land will be restored, the report added.

Member Colonies sought more time from the court to resolve the issue which was duly given by the judge till September 08.

Meanwhile, the judge directed the DCO to report to the court on October 7 after removing encroachments from all the graveyards of the city.

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