SHC moved for NAB probe into illegal exchange of 250 acres of land

A petition was filed with the Sindh High Court on Monday seeking an investigation into the allegedly illegal exchange of 250 acres of land in Scheme 33 of the city.

The petitioner, Syed Mureed Ali Shah, submitted in the petition that a piece of land with an area of 250 acres in Scheme 33, District East had been allotted to his grandfather AM Qureshi in October 1963 which was later cancelled by the revenue department in January 1976.

He submitted that the revenue department order was challenged before the SHC and the high court granted a stay in favour of his grandfather in 1979.

It was submitted in the petition that during pendency of the civil suit, a member of the board of land utilisation allowed the exchange of land to other private parties despite the stay order of the high court, which was later cancelled by the revenue department. The petitioner submitted that private parties, including builders, also made false representation before the Sindh government’s lands committee for the regularisation of land, which was rejected by the committee in 2008.

The petitioner submitted that in spite of the stay order, the land in question was still in possession of private persons and builders who had launched a housing scheme there and were carrying out illegal construction work.

He submitted that the revenue department had been informed about the encroachment of the land and the violation of the court orders but no action had been taken against the persons responsible for launching the illegal housing scheme and carrying out illegal construction on it.

The petition stated that private respondents, including the builders, were liable to be prosecuted and punished under the law for encroaching the land and defrauding the public at large in the name of the housing scheme.

He submitted that the gerrymandering exercise of the revenue department, private respondent and builders was done with a mala fide intention to deprive the petitioner from the estate of his late grandfather.

He alleged that the revenue department was regularising the land in question in a clandestine manner to protect the illegal allotments, which were allowed in violation of the high court’s stay order.

The SHC was requested to declare the act of the revenue department with regard to the exchange of the land to private persons to be illegal and restrain the private builders and others from dealing with the 250 acres of land situated in Deh Dozan, Scheme 33.

The petitioner also sought an investigation into the exchange of land to be carried out by the National Accountability Bureau, and direction for the recovery of innocent people’s money who had been cheated in the name of housing schemes. The SHC, after a preliminary hearing of the petition, directed the petitioner to submit relevant record of the civil case and adjourned the hearing.