‘Fast-track’ court to retrieve expats’ properties from land grabbers planned

ISLAMABAD: The government is nearing in to set up the first-ever “fast-track” court in federal capital for speedy retrieval of expatriates’ properties from land grabbers.

“The initiative is in advanced stage as a final draft for establishment of fast-track court has been prepared by the Ministry of Law and Justice,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfikar Bukhari told APP on Wednesday.

“Main objective of this initiative is to move forward for swift retrieval of valuable properties of Pakistanis living abroad from mafias and bring them to justice,” he said.A couple of months ago, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development had submitted a summary to the Ministry of Law and Justice for materialising the idea of fast-track court as maximum number of complaints of overseas Pakistanis are related to the land disputes.

According to Bukhari, the summary will be presented before the cabinet at its next meeting after having a discussion with Law Minister Farogh Naseem. “On special directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government would extend all possible facilities to expatriates for investment in diverse fields of economy,” he said, adding the fast-track court would ensure disposal of cases within one month period.

The special assistant said the fast-track court in the capital city would be taken as a pilot project after which similar courts would be set up in other cities of the country. He regretted that previous government did not pay attention towards this issue of overseas Pakistanis despite the fact that they repeatedly highlighted their miseries.

He also said a special desk for expats had been set up at the Police Facilitation Centre in Islamabad to ensure swift resolution of the issues of overseas Pakistanis, adding the officials of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation had been deputed at the special desk to establish a strong connectivity among the departments concerned for resolving expats’ complaints instantly.