HYDERABAD: Judge Zulfiqar Ali Solangi of the Anti-Encroachment Tribunal on Thursday dismissed a major industrial group’s suit claiming ownership of over 1,100 acres of agricultural land in Jamshoro district’s Thana Bula Khan taluka.

Plaintiffs Salman Ahmed Tabba and others through their attorney Obaid Mohsin Alavi and Advocate Munawar Hussain prayed the tribunal to declare that they were not encroachers of any government land.

Ms Shamshad Bukhari was the Deputy District Attorney in the case.

The plaintiffs urged the tribunal to restrain defendants [the civil administration, its anti-encroachment force and some individual litigants] from interfering with their peaceful possession of the suit property until its verification and demarcation to establish its legal ownership.

The suit property bears survey/khet numbers 274/1, 274/2, 274/3, 274/4, and 283/1, cumulatively measuring 248-20 acres; survey/khet numbers 103/3, 103/4, 104/1, 104/2, 104/3, cumulatively measuring 223-00 acres; survey/khet numbers 68/1, 68/2, 68/3, 68/4, 69/3, 70/4, cumulatively measuring 334-23 acres; survey/khet Nos. 51/1, 50/2, 58/32, cumulatively measuring 151-18 acres; and survey/khet numbers 196/2, 196/3, 196/4, cumulatively measuring 116-00 acres.

The group claims that it owned the suit property since 2004 and has established a modern agro- industries farm on the lands located in Deh Babar Band of Thana Bula Khan taluka. They submitted that they had purchased the land through executive and registered sale deeds. The plaintiffs said they mutated the land in the revenue record of rights. Verification of all the legal documents was performed by M/s Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and Co. and public notices were published in leading newspapers, they added.

They stated that no-objection certificate from the Mukhtiarkar and tapedar concerned was also obtained and in 2005, a boundary wall around the lands was raised with the permission of the revenue authorities.

They complained that the official defendants issued to them a notice for the verification of title documents and before they could respond, the wall was demolished.

On Feb 22, 2022, the Mukhtiarkar of Thana Bula Khan got the remaining structures demolished through police and anti-encroachment force.

In its order, the tribunal noted that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seized the entries and record of the suit properties on Dec 15, 2023. Inquiries are still pending before NAB regarding the suit property and related cases involving revenue authorities. The suit property was also subject of proceedings before the special judge, anti-corruption (provincial), Hyderabad.

The court order said: “… as stated above, entries are forged. Consequently, registration of documents based on these tampered, forged and manipulated entries holds no legal validity. Furthermore, plaintiffs have mortgaged entire land through a deed dated Jan 29, 2016 with a private bank and secured loans against total area of 1,113-36 acres. It constitutes fraud against public funds by mortgaging state land”. It further noted that “significant forgery and tampering have occurred in revenue records of Deh Babar Bund taluka Thana Bula Khan, Jamshoro”.

The judge mentioned that one entry [of land in record] was fraudulently increased from 5-16 acres to 252-15 acres; another from 24-00 acres to 334-23 acres and one was increased from 03-00 acres to 223-00 acres.

The tribunal noted that the plaintiffs, in collusion with revenue officials, caused a substantial loss to public exchequer by mortgaging state land with private bank. The actual area of entries doesn’t exceed 56-00 acres but through fraud, manipulation and forgery, this was increased to 1,113-36 acres. “Therefore the plaintiffs are not entitled to any relief. Suit is dismissed,” the order said.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2024