Lahore [Pakistan], April 2 : Lahore High Court has stopped the Punjab caretaker government from handing over the 45,000 acres of land approximately to the Pakistan army on the lease, The News International reported.
The Punjab caretaker government led by Mohsin Naqvi has notified of handing over the 45,267 acres of land to the Pakistan Army on lease in three districts i.e. Bhakkar, Khushab and Sahiwal, for a corporate agriculture farming project.
According to The News International, the caretaker government had signed a joint venture agreement on March 8, 2023, to hand over the land to the army, but now, the court judge Abid Hussain Chattha has stopped the Punjab provincial from doing so.
Earlier, on February 20, 2023, a notification was issued where the court stopped handing over the land to the Army after a petition was moved by Ahmad Rafay Alam, on behalf of the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan.
The judgment, a copy of which is available with The News International, the Lahore High Court barred the caretaker government from extending any "lease of state land" for the above-mentioned purpose as per the government's notification.
The court issued notices to the respondents, the Punjab Board of Revenue and secretaries of different departments, including Agriculture, Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries, Irrigation and Livestock & Dairy Development for May 9. Notices have also been served on the Attorney-General for Pakistan and Advocate General Punjab, as per the report in The News International.
The petition argued that Section 230 (functions of caretaker government) of the Election Act 2017 says that the "mandate and scope of the caretaker government is limited to performing day-to-day functions of the government and is specifically barred from taking policy decisions of permanent nature". The petitioner contended that the constitutional mandate restricts the army to performing functions of external and internal security, and does not extend to corporate agriculture farming, the intended purpose, as per the government's notification.
The petitioner implored the court to declare the February 20 notification illegal, and null and void, as it does not fall under the scope of the caretaker government.
Meanwhile, Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed a plea challenging the appointment of Mohsin Raza Naqvi as the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, The News International reported.
The government informed the court during the hearing on Monday that the ECP and the courts had the jurisdiction to stop a caretaker CM from abusing their position. The ECP has already halted the execution of a number of Naqvi's orders.
As the Election Commission of Pakistan has the authority to name the caretaker CM, Judge Shahid Karim stated that the appointment was done in accordance with the law, according to The News International.
Questioning Naqvi's appointment, the government contended that the ECP alone had the authority to nominate the caretaker chief minister.
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