KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday observed that the chief minister was not competent to grant land only on the basis of recommendation of the department concerned for residential or commercial purposes, bypassing the open auction.

However, the SHC also noted that about the land for industrial purposes in industrial zones, defined/declared through a policy, the CM would be competent for only leasing out it for a period of 30 years and such lease would not be converted in 99 years.

Comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, the two-judge bench said the requirement of the open auction should have been made in all cases of disposal of the government/state land.

A ban on the allotment of the state land was in place and the relaxation had been allowed by the Supreme Court only for specific projects.

SHC rules CM can allocate land to cooperative societies, farmers living below the poverty line

A housing scheme did not, prima facie, appear to be one falling in such exception and therefore, the allotment in the name of housing/commercial scheme in subsistence/ existence of the ban was against the clear directives of the apex court, it added.

The SHC also said the chief executive would also be competent to approve/ allot land for cooperative societies and farming for the persons living below the poverty line as well as for uplifting of the marginalised communities, including the scheduled castes/women/ haris /labourers.

The bench issued such directives while disposing of a petition filed against the provincial authorities for not handing over possession of 12 acre of land located in Baldia Town despite approval of the competent authority/chief minister and payment of Rs30 million.

During the hearing, a provincial law officer and a lawyer for the Board of Revenue asserted that the provincial government had approved the Land Grant Policy 2024 and thereunder any land for commercial purposes was to be auctioned.

However, they maintained that with regard to the establishment of industry and residential purposes, the prerogative was with the chief minister and in the present case, the petitioner had sought allotment of the land for residential and industrial purposes as well.

The bench in its order said, “… executives cannot grant lands at their discretion without holding an open auction; thus, the policy with regard to residential purposes has no legal value in the eyes of the law and is in gross violation of the basic fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of 1973”.

The government had a mandate to reserve/allot the land in order to provide a better atmosphere only to the persons who were living beyond the poverty line or under the Sindh Gothabad Scheme Act or to establish the public amenities and parks, it added.

The bench also observed that the provincial government must only grant the state land on a well chalked-out policy and priority must be given to promote the small farmers (haris) and in order to ensure transparency and fairness, the proposed approach should integrate key mechanisms like open auctions and verification processes through Nadra.

It said that the state land could only be granted through an open auction and wide advertisement inviting all the interested parties to participate in a healthy and transparent bidding process to fetch the maximum market rates/prices and the Land Grant Policy had provided a complete procedure as detailed in Section-10 regarding the open auction.

The court said the Cooperative Societies Act, 2020 specifically provided for the uplifting of the people living below the poverty line and therefore, directed the provincial government to ensure strict compliance of the law in its true spirit by forming high-level committees to monitor its implementation, especially for the marginalised communities.

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2024