The Lahore High Court (LHC) has stopped the caretaker government of Punjab from handing over 45,276 acres of agricultural land to Pakistan Army in three districts for “Corporate Agriculture Farming”.
According to the details, a petition was filed by Ahmad Rafay Alam on March 28 on behalf of the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan asking that the LHC declare the caretaker government “cannot take major policy decisions”.
The petition further asked that the “handing over of any and all properties/land by and between the respondents” be declared “illegal, null and void” as well.
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The petition had also contended that the constitutional mandate restricts Army to performing functions of external and internal security and does not extend to “Corporate Agriculture Farming.”
On Thursday, a two-page verdict was issued by Judge Abid Hussain Chattha over the petition, barring the Punjab caretaker government from extending any “lease of state land”.
لاہور ہائیکورٹ نے نگران حکومت کیجانب سے خلاف قانون افواج پاکستان کو پنجاب کے مختلف اضلاع میں 45 ہزار 276 ایکٹر زرعی اراضی کے نوٹیفکیشن پر عملدرآمد روک دیا،
عدالت نے فریقین کو نوٹس جاری کرتے ہوئے 5 مئی تک سے شق وار دلائل جمع کروانے کی ہدایت کردی pic.twitter.com/HzL5XHWdeb— Shakir Mehmood Awan (@ShakirAwan88) March 31, 2023
Earlier this month, the Punjab caretaker government allocated over 45,000 acres of land to the Pakistan Army for a “Corporate Agriculture Farming” project.
According to reports, this was a joint venture between the Punjab government, the Pakistan Army, and private firms dealing with corporate farming to enhance crop yield in order to ensure food sufficiency.
The Punjab government aimed to provide the land while the army would utilize its resources and retain the management of the project. The private sector, on the other hand, would invest and provide auxiliary support, including the supply of fertilizers.
45,267 acres of land in three districts — Bhakkar, Khushab, and Sahiwal — of Punjab was to be handed over to the Pakistan Army for ‘Corporate Agriculture Farming’. 42,724-acre land was in tehsils Kaloor Kot and Mankera in Bhakkar, 1,818 acres in tehsils Quaidabad and Khushab in Khushab, and 725 acres in tehsil Chichawatni of Sahiwal.
The report of the Pak Army receiving the land had sparked criticism on social media, however, military sources clarified to the media that the army was “not taking over the ownership of the land as it will remain the property” of the Punjab government, however, the army will provide a coherent administrative structure.
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