Villagers move SHC against revenue dept’s alleged bid to dispossess them of land

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the advocate general, the revenue department and others on a lawsuit filed by villagers against dispossession of their land.

Plaintiffs, including Mohammad Ashraf, submitted that they were sanctioned 30 acres at Na-class Deh dozen Scheme 33 under the Gothabad scheme by the deputy commissioner of District East. They submitted they had been residing at the land since the 1940s, but the private respondents in connivance with the revenue department and the anti-encroachment cell intended to dispossess them of the land.

They requested the court to restrain the official respondents from interfering in the peaceful possession of the plaintiffs and to direct the revenue department to regularise their land. A single bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, after the preliminary hearing of the complaint, issued notices to the advocate general, the revenue department, the anti- encroachment cell and others and called their comments.

Detention cases

The SHC directed the federal and provincial law officers to file comments on petitions against the detention of citizens allegedly by personnel of law enforcement agencies.

Petitioners Zarina Khatoon and Shafaq Mehtab submitted that personnel of law enforcement agencies picked up Zakaria and Mohammad Furrukh Alam from Korangi and Liaquatabad and their whereabouts were unknown.

They submitted that the two had been missing since November 22 last year and April 23, 2019, but police and other law enforcement agencies were not disclosing their whereabouts. They expressed apprehension about the lives of the detainees.

The court issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers, the Sindh IGP, the DG Rangers and others and called their comments on July 2.