Khursheed Shah among grabbers of Hindu's lands, SC informed

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday resumed hearing of the case regarding encroachment of the lands in Sindh owned by the Hindu community, ARY News reported.

Minorities MNA Ramesh Kumar informed the bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, that Syed Khursheed Shah’s name is being taken in illegal encroachment of Hindu’s lands in Sukkur.

The chief justice questioned, is he the opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah? PTI MNA Kumar affirmed that Khursheed Shah was named in the report from Sukkur.

The Chief Justice said the court issuing notice to the people who have encroached these lands.

The bench also expressed its displeasure over the absence of the Advocate General of Sindh and imposed Rs 25,000 fine on him.

The court ordered the AG to pay the amount of fine in Supreme Court’s dam fund.

MNA Ramesh Kumar informed the bench that Domkis, Mazaris and Shahs, all of them have encroached lands of Hindus.

What action has been taken against the encroachers, the chief justice asked.

The report about encroached lands in Larkana division has been finalized, Kumar said.

In Larkana, Dharamshala, Gaoshala and even cramatorium have been encroached by the land grabbers, the MNA told the court.

The land of Prof. Bhagwan Devi was grabbed with an unregistered power of attorney, the MNA informed.

The court commenting on the Sindh government’s request for adjournment of the hearing observed that the court finds no reason to adjourn the case.

In an earlier hearing MNA Ramesh Kumar said the committee had highlighted areas with encroached land. He told the court that 45 applications were received from Larkana alone regarding land encroachment.

Responding to his statement, the CJP said he was extending scope of the committee so it could entertain all applications regarding the matter.

He, however, added that the apex court had particularly taken notice of Dr Bhagwan Devi, a retired professor, who in a video claimed that the Hindu community in Sindh was the victim of the worst lawlessness and mismanagement.

The video of Dr Bhagwan Devi came to light in October in which she said that the land mafia was taking over properties owned by Hindus in Sindh, especially Larkana, on the basis of “false power of attorney”. Devi added that affected members of the community were also being threatened into silence.

“Many Hindus of Larkana have sold their properties and are ready to leave [the country],” she regretted, adding that many have already left.