SHC seeks comments on plea for details of leased public land

Karachi
The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the federal law officer to file comments on a petition seeking details of all government land leased to the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) since 1971.
Shehri CBE, a non-government organisation, had moved the court for effective implementation of Article 19-A of the Constitution, which guarantees right to information in all matters of public importance, for details of government land leased to the Army Welfare Trust.
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the organisation had approached the relevant ministry for details of the leased out land, but received no response. He said that AWT was the parent entity of Askari group of businesses, which deals in different fields including banking, security solutions, lubricants, real estate, aviation and agriculture.
The petitioner submitted that the Supreme Court had also taken suo moto notice over the use of land leased to AWT for commercial purposes in Saddar. He maintained that right to information in all matters of public importance was guaranteed under the Constitution and prayed the court to take steps to protect citizens’ rights.
The ministry of law and justice submitted that the petitioner had approached the federal ombudsman but the application was dismissed as the matter related to the ministry of defence and he could not take cognisance in the matter.
He said the petitioner had moved representation before the Presidency, which is pending for decision, and prayed the court to dismiss the petition as not maintainable.
The SHC division bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, expressed dissatisfaction over the comments and directed the law officer to file detailed comments and explain why the ministry of defence had not responded to the petitioner’s request for disclosure of information.The matter would be taken up by the bench after three weeks.