SC imposes Rs 1 mln fine on Punjab Govt for acquiring land without owner’s permission in 2007

ISLAMABAD, The Supreme Court on Monday imposed a fine of Rs one million on the Punjab Government for acquiring the land of a citizen for the construction of a road in 2007 without his permission and paying any compensation.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa heard the case related to the matter.

At the outset of hearing, the CJP remarked that how the provincial government had built a road on someone’s land without permission or payment. The petitioner neither gifted the land to the government nor it was acquired in accordance of the law, he noted.

The court expressed annoyance at the Additional Advocate General Punjab and asked why he had filed such a futile case. Public resources and court time were wasted due to such false cases, and genuine cases were also sidelined, he added.

The court instructed the provincial government to also pay Rs one million to the citizen as fine.

It should be noted that the Punjab government had built a road on the land of a citizen named Liaquat Ali in Gujranwala in 2007, and the appellate court and the high court had given their decisions in his favour, which were also upheld by the Supreme Court.

The court rejected the Punjab Government’s appeal against its decision, and ordered it to pay the compensation to the owner within 30 days as per the current price of the land.