LAHORE, July 25: The Punjab Chief Settlement Commissioner has cancelled allotment of 14,000-kanal land worth trillions allotted through what he says fraudulent means and misrepresentation to some influential people in 11 districts in 1995.

Nearly 250-kanal tract (of this land) is situated in Karbath village, now a part of Lahore’s costliest Defence Housing Authority. It reportedly has three claimants who are namesake. The Lahore SSP had been asked first by the Lahore High Court and then by the Supreme Court chief justice on July 23 to determine the real allottees from among the three within 15 days.

Officials say the land carries a market value of trillions of rupees because of rapid urbanisation and commercialization.

In his decision given on July 14 on petitions filed by the state and one Rehmat Ali, Board of Revenue’s Member Judicial-V and Chief Settlement Commissioner Dr Nazir Saeed declared that fraud had been proved in getting the allotments and “it is floating on surface”.

He recalled the allotment order issued by the secretary revenue on Sept 4, 1995, declaring it void and of no legal effect. He also cancelled all the allotments made in pursuance of the order. Subsequent alienations, if any, also were declared null and void, and the land was resumed in favour of the state/provincial government.

The CSC directed that a copy of the order be sent to the district officers (revenue) of Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Multan, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Bhakkar and Sialkot, and district officers (consolidation) of Lahore, Sheikhupura and Kasur for immediate implementation in the revenue record.

He sought a compliance report to be sent to his office within one week. “This is a case of glaring fraud and the government has been deprived of very valuable land in several districts through fraud and misrepresentation,” he declared. According to brief facts of the case as mentioned in the decision, “Abdul Hamid, etc., obtained allotments in villages Ahyanagar etc., Ferozewala tehsil of Sheikhupura, which were not only bogus but also in excess of their actual allotment.

“These allotments were cancelled by the Border Area Committee (BAC) and the resumed land was allotted to military officers under the Martial Law Regulation No 9.”

The affected allottees, he noted, filed writ petitions with the Lahore High Court to challenge the decision. The court accepted the petitions on Oct 6, 1979, with the observation that if it was found that the petitioners or any of their allotments were valid, the allotments to the respondents (army officers) stood set aside. And if the petitioners were found to have obtained allotments fraudulently, the allotments in favour of the respondents would not be affected.

The BAC instead of launching an inquiry to ascertain genuineness of the allotments to the petitioners Abdul Hamid, etc., passed an order on Oct 13, 1986 for allotment of land situated in Lodhran in their favour. Since the land was in possession of the provincial forest department, the allottees could not get it.

As a result, they filed another writ petition with the Lahore High Court (in 1988) and the BAC assured them that they would be given the possession. Four years later, the so-called land ‘owners’ filed another writ petition with the LHC after they were not given the promised possession. A verdict on the plea came about on May 31, 1992 in which the LHC directed the CSC to dispose of the petition within one month.

The case was finally entrusted to then secretary (revenue), Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, under some orders of the CSC, which were not available on record. Finally, Abdul Hamid and others obtained on Sept 4, 1995 an order of allotments of valuable land situated in many districts from the said notified officer through fraud and misrepresentation.

The CSC on information about fraudulent allotments directed the district officers concerned not to implement the order in the revenue record, referring the matter to the Anti-Corruption Establishment for investigation. The allottees again went into litigation and the petitions filed by the settlement department were dismissed by the high and the apex courts on technical grounds.

The chief settlement commissioner declared that during inquiry it had been found that the previous allotments of the respondents Abdul Hamid, etc., in Ferozewala were not only bogus, but were also in excess of their actual entitlement. The BAC, too, violated the court orders and instead of inquiring into the matter, made alternative allotment of land in lieu of the earlier (bogus) allotments.

Strangely, the CSC said, it was also ordered that these persons might be given allotments equivalent to double of their previous allotments which had been cancelled for being bogus. This order of the BAC was illegal and without jurisdiction, and was not binding on the settlement department because the allotment of evacuee land against claims had been banned by the federal government in 1973, and all the settlement laws stood repealed from July 1, 1974.

The secretary gave superior land as against the inferior quality, which too was obtained fraudulently, without verifying the claims or entitlements of the allottees. He blindly relied upon the alleged illegal and void order of the BAC.

“It is a well-settled law that a fraud is always a fraud which can be undone at any stage and the bar of limitation is not applicable where an order is obtained fraudulently,” the CSC declared.