LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday took the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club under judicial custody and appointed a representative of a charted accountant firm as receiver to run the day-to-day affairs of the club.
A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing a case at SC Lahore Registry pertaining to encroachments of Pakistan Railways’ land and leasing it out at throwaway prices. Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan were other members of the bench.
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, who appeared before the court, stated that prime land of the department had been encroached upon with the connivance of previous regimes. He said railways authorities were also involved in facilitating the encroachers.
He urged the bench to order the recovery of, what he claimed, “the most attractive and prime property of the railway”.
In rebuttal, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, the club’s counsel, said there was a registered lease between the club and the railways. The minister pointed out that the lease stood cancelled in 2016. However, the club management neither abandoned the possession nor paid rent for it, he added.
The counsel for the railways told the bench that the previous regime had taken over the possession of the club; however, the Lahore High Court had granted a stay to the management.
Chief Justice Nisar observed that the court would take over the club till resolution of the dispute and the previous management would not enter the club. The chief justice appointed Shabbar Zaidi of AF Ferguson, a chartered accountant firm, as court-receiver to run the Royal Palm Club.
The court told Ramzan Sheikh, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the club, and his staff to relinquish charge to the auditing firm for an audit. It added that until an audit was complete, the club would not be managed by the Sheikh or Pakistan Railways.
The court ordered that the old administration would not be allowed access to the club; however, all planned activities would continue as per schedule.
The chief justice directed Mr Zaidi, who was present in the court, to immediately take over complete record/accounts of the club. The top judge observed that the previous management of the club would withdraw its petition from the high court while all reserved functions and activities in the club would be held as per their schedule.
Chief Justice Nisar remarked that the railways land could not be used for commercial purposes. However, he said the railways could continue with its policy of giving its agricultural land for cultivation purposes on short-term lease programme to meet expenses. Further hearing will be held on Jan 4, 2019 in Islamabad.
During the hearing, the court pored over Royal Palm Club’s “flawed contract”. It added that the contract was faulty from the beginning, as it permitted looting of billions, which was done with the connivance of the railways.
“This is railways land and we shall not allow any other entity to control it,” Chief Justice Saqib Nisar remarked and expressed his displeasure at the sale of railway’s land. He regretted that the owners of the Royal Palm Club collaborated with the previous railways administration and “embezzled billions of rupees”.
The chief justice remarked that Royal Palm owners “are so powerful that half the country listens to them”, but made it clear that “this is railway’s land, we will not let anyone else to occupy it.” The court banned entry of club’s previous administration to the premises.
The chief justice said that the court would not allow railway’s land to be leased out for the purpose of building housing societies. However, he permitted the leasing of the additional land for maximum up to three years.
