LHC CJ seeks explanation from CM on LDA deputations

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Wednesday sought an explanation from Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar about prolonged and repeated postings of officials in the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) on deputation.

Hearing a petition against illegal housing societies established on green land areas, the chief justice asked the legal advisor of the LDA who the chairman of the authority was. The advisor said the chief minister is the chairman of the LDA. At this, the chief justice sought a written explanation from the chief minister being the chairman of the LDA about the officials working in the authority for a long period of time on deputation. The CJ also sought a similar explanation from the vice chairman of the LDA. The CJ observed that a decision whether to summon the chief minister in person would be taken after going through the explanation.

Earlier, the chief justice, after going through the record of the officials on deputation, wondered that at least three land acquisition collectors have been working in the LDA on deputation for decades.

Asked about the period of the posting on deputation, an officer of the LDA told the CJ that an official could be appointed on deputation for a period of three years. The chief justice regretted that every citizen pays direct and indirect taxes to the government for his whole life and the government cannot provide him with a free piece of land for his grave after death. The CJ asked a provincial law officer that the ongoing work on development projects in Mianwali and Dera Ghazi Khan, the native districts of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Buzdar respectively, could be stopped if the government was short of money and land.

The law officer said the government would soon satisfy the concerns of the court in this matter. About the illegal societies, the law officer said the Anti-Corruption Establishment has collected complete data of the societies constructed on green land areas to take action against them. The CJ sought a progress report from the ACE on the next hearing on February 23.