Pay the evictees

The anti-encroachment drive that is being carried out across Pakistan in the backdrop of the SC’s direction has led to the demolition of scores of illegal property built on the state’s land. However, the present anti-encroachment drive is contrary to the established legal principle of ‘legitimate expectation’ universally applied in such matters by the courts. According to this principle, inhabitants of the state’s land, occupied albeit illegally, cannot be made to evacuate the land except after paying the compensation for the structure they have built on the land. The first legal duty of the state is not to allow any encroachment or construction on the state’s land/ property and remove any such encroachment or construction at the beginning. Keeping a blind eye for many years means that the state was complicit – this is also evident from monthly rent which the state was collecting regularly. In the present scenario, the state is more at fault than the occupants. It allowed the encroachment to go on under its nose without any check or interference. Based on the principle of legitimate expectation, it is suggested that the occupants may be compensated for their loss.

Muhammad Waqas Raja

Islamabad