SHC tells CS to submit land allotment, village regularisation policies

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the provincial chief secretary to place on record the policy for allotment of land to any agency or authority as well as the policy regarding the regularisation of old villages.

The court also restrained the police and the provincial government from harassing or dispossessing villagers from their land in the Hawkesbay area. The directions came on Raza Mohammad and Hussain’s petition challenging the proposed allotment of 6,000 acres to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in the Hawkesbay area.

The petitioners’ counsel Aaquib Rajpar and Ali Asghar said the provincial government plans to allot 5,000 to 6,000 acres of land in the Hawkesbay area for the extension of the DHA. The counsel said that such an allotment would result in the eviction and the demolition of villages in three Dehs: Chitara, Allah Bakhsh and Mundhyari.

He said that the official correspondence between the DHA and the provincial government shows that the allotment of land in question is on the verge of being completed. It is being done without considering thousands of poor fishermen and villagers whose livelihood depends only on the business of fishing since the pre-Partition era, he added.

The counsel said the villagers residing there since the time of their forefathers, fear dispossession due to the new housing scheme. He said the villages should be regularised under the Gothabad Act, 1987, and refer ownership of their land.

He also said the DHA operates independently from government involvement, established to benefit a certain class of people and generate income as a non-governmental authority. The DHA falls under the domain of the Sindh Cooperative Housing Society, and should be treated accordingly under the laws and the rules, he added.

After the preliminary hearing of the petition, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar said that the land in question falls within the three Dehs of Hawkesbay. The bench issued notices to the provincial advocate general, the DHA and others, ordering them to file their comments on August 27.

The court also appointed the Nazir to visit all the villages with the assistance of the petitioners, their counsel and the custodian of the record of rights, then submit a report on the status of the villages on the land in question.

The bench directed the provincial government to not dispossess or demolish any villages until the next date of hearing. The court also asked the Nazir to use Google Maps to assist in the task.

The SHC directed the provincial police chief to ensure that police officials do not harass the villagers in any way. The court also directed the CS to place on record the policies for land allotment and village regularisation.