The Federal Constitutional Court has set aside its earlier decision declaring the allotment of Evacuee Trust Property to the Punjab Education Department as a “dispute between governments,” and has remanded the matter to the Lahore High Court for a fresh judgment.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Hasan Rizvi heard the case on Tuesday. The court observed that the allotment of Evacuee Trust Property land to the Education Department does not fall within the category of an inter-governmental dispute, and therefore does not come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court.
During the proceedings, Justice Hasan Rizvi posed several key questions, noting that allocating Evacuee Trust land to the Education Department cannot be considered a conflict between two governments. He questioned how land traditionally used by the Hindu community for cremations had been allotted to the Education Department.
The bench further pointed out that since the land was allotted in 1989, it was likely that construction had already taken place, and asked how this situation should be addressed. The court also inquired what action the Evacuee Trust Property Board itself had taken regarding the allotment, and why the appeal was filed in the name of the “Central Government” when the issue did not concern a federal-provincial dispute.
At the court’s query, the Additional Advocate General Punjab stated that he required instructions from the provincial government and requested time.
After hearing the arguments, the court held that the matter is fundamentally a legal and proprietary dispute between the parties, rather than a conflict between the federation and a province. On this basis, the court ruled that keeping the case before the Federal Constitutional Court was legally inappropriate.
Consequently, the court set aside the previous decision and remanded the case to the Lahore High Court, directing it to re-examine all aspects and issue a fresh judgment.