LHC seeks record of govt residences

LAHORE
The Lahore High Court on Wednesday ordered the Punjab government to present complete record of 597 official residences, the chief minister had awarded to the government employees on his discretion.
As the hearing started, Muhammad Tariq Jameel, a state officer, appeared before the court and submitted complete record of the residences awarded to government officials. He said that 597 residences were allotted to officials by the discretion of the chief minister. On it, Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan of the LHC ordered the state officer to present the complete record of the residences allotted by the Punjab Chief Minister.
The lawyer-petitioner, had filed the petition and pointed out that the state department did not allot plots and official residences to a number of government employees serving at Punjab Assembly and Civil Secretariat.
He submitted that they were eligible for the allotment but still they were not. He prayed the court to order the government to allot residences to the officials without discrimination and purely on the basis of merit. The Court will resume hearing on December 12.
notice: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Punjab government on a petition challenging Land Acquisition Act 1894.
A division bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh of the LHC directed the office of advocate general to file reply on behalf of the government till December 07, the next date of hearing. The court issued this order on a petition of Seemi Arif, a citizen.
Through her advocate, she submitted that the government initiated Orange Line Project without fulfilling the required rules and laws. She said they did not acquire the required land for the project and initiated it.
She said now by issuing notification, they have acquired the private land of different people and now are forcing them to vacate their lands. She said according to the Constitution of Pakistan, every Pakistan has right to have his land and the government cannot infringe this right.
She said different sections of Lad Acquisition Act are in conflict with certain articles of the Constitution. She prayed the court to stop the government from forcefully acquiring her land for the project. She also prayed the court to declare the certain acts of the Land Acquisition Act null and void which gives powers to the government to acquire land of citizens without their intention.
Already the court has granted stay against acquisition of land for the Orange Line project on petition of residents of Kapoorthala House.
diamond: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court for bringing the Kohinoor diamond back from Queen Elizabeth of Britain. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffrey alleges in his petition that the British snatched the diamond from Daleep Singh, grandson of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, and took it to the United Kingdom. He said the diamond became part of the crown of incumbent Queen Elizabeth-II at the time of her crowing in 1953.
The lawyer said the Queen Elizabeth had no right on the Kohinoor diamond, which weighs 105 carats and worth billions of rupees. He said the snatched diamond was cultural heritage of Punjab province and its citizens owned it in fact.
The petitioner prayed to the court to direct the federal government to bring the diamond back to Pakistan. The British Queen and British High Commission in Pakistan have also been made parties in the petition.
Meanwhile, a local lawyer has challenged before the Lahore High Court a duty-free Indian jewellery show being held in collaboration with Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
Advocate Jawad Anwar filed the petition saying Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) allowed Indian jewellers to exhibit their products in an exhibition in Lahore. He said the exhibition would cause a great financial loss to national exchequer and economy. He alleged that the government was organising the show only to please Indian traders whereas Pakistani businessmen were not allowed to visit the neighbouring country. He contended that the impugned act of the government was against the nationalism. He asked the court to set aside the tax rebate given to Indian traders for being an anti-Pakistan act.