SC orders Sindh govt to retrieve all state land from encroachers

KARACHI: The Supreme Court directed on Wednesday the provincial authorities to remove encroachments from all state land across the province.

An apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, directed the Board of Revenue’s (BOR) senior member to place on record a report showing details of government land under encroachment and that retrieved from land-grabbers.

The court further instructed the revenue department to restore its parks and playgrounds to their original condition and clear greenbelts of all illegal occupations. The bench called for the BOR to take steps for protecting its land.

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Besides, the SC ordered removal of encroachments from the forest and agriculture departments’ land and summoned reports from all deputy commissioners and Mukhtiarkars of the province in this regard.

“Several parallel systems are running in your office. Your [department’s] Mukhtiarkar does some work at his office and some at home. 10-storeyed buildings are being built everywhere,” the chief justice pointed out, addressing the senior member of the BOR.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, a member of the bench, remarked Thatta’s land record has been tampered with.

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“There are encroachments everywhere along the Superhighway. All your [govt] land has been encroached upon. Cites are being built along the Superhighway,” CJP Gulzar remarked.

The BOR official said that the department retrieved 4,000 acres of state land in Malir alone.