PHC stops salaries of top officials

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday attached salaries of secretary and director Sports and Culture, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for non-compliance with the court orders.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali issued directives regarding stopping salaries of the top officials for non-compliance with the court orders in a writ petition challenge the decision of the provincial government to convert the acting legend Dilip Kumar’s house into a heritage site.
During hearing of the case, the petitioner’s lawyer Shah Nawaz Khan informed the bench that despite court’s repeated orders the officials were not submitting replies in the case. The petition was filed in the court by Haji Lal Muhammad, in which he claimed that he is the lawful owner of the five-marla house situated in Mohallah Khudad, purchased from Muhammad Badshah and his wife Saeeda Khatoon for Rs515,000 on January 5, 2008.
“The aforementioned house was initially in the ownership of Ghulam Mohiyuddin alias Gul Jee who transferred the said property (deed no 123) on January 26, 1943 for Rs2,000 to Ghulam Sarwar who is the father of Yousaf Khan, also known as Dilip Kumar, the Indian film star,” stated the petition.
It added that Ghulam Sarwar then transferred the property to Muhammad Yaqoob Qureshi on January 29, 1943 via an unregistered deed for Rs 2,000. The house came into the ownership of Muhammad Badshah from his father Qureshi. On January 29, 1995, Badshah transferred two marlas to his daughter and the remaining three marlas to his wife Saeeda Khatoon on April 4, 2005. The house was then sold to Haji Lal Muhammad, it added.
In 2012, on the 89th birthday of Dilip Kumar, the provincial government issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 regarding the house. It initially agreed to pay Rs30 million to Haji Lal Muhammad for the house, said the petition.
“After various meetings with the attorney of the petitioner, the government then made an offer of Rs11,224,242 which was then raised to Rs14,246,225. However, the petitioner refused because the market value of the aforementioned house is more than what the respondents offered,” it said.