Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Friday overturned the decisions of deputy commissioner-led committees that granted the possession of properties to people in 10 districts of Punjab, deciding cases of land disputes.
Justice Neelum reversed the decisions after hearing petitions against the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act 2025, which empowers deputy commissioner-led committees to decide property disputes.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that had the “patwaris” (revenue officials) performed their duties promptly, such issues would not have arisen.
Rejecting a notion of prolonged pendency of civil litigation, Neelum observed, “I am well aware of how many old cases are pending before courts.”
She asserted that commissioners and deputy commissioners had no authority to remove or restore possessions of properties on their own, and questioned how many laws the government would throw aside.
The chief justice regretted that deputy commissioners ordered the removal of possessions despite the fact that the matters were pending before the civil courts.
A citizen from Depalpur who had obtained possession under the new law also appeared before the court. However, the chief justice ordered him to give up the possession.
When confronted, a lawyer for the citizen conceded before the court that the deputy commissioner-led committee had acted beyond its authority.
The chief justice observed that since the lawyer himself had admitted that the DC had exceeded his authority, an action could be initiated against the committee members.
The lawyer asked where people would go if they did not get justice from the judicial system.
He added that the dispute resolution committee (DRC) had handed over possession of the property within 27 days.
However, Neelum snubbed the lawyer, instructing him not to make sensational statements for the consumption of newspaper headlines.
The CJ observed that a DC could not pass such a decision as the power to decide was vested with the tribunals formed under the new law. She clarified that the issue before the court was not whether the petitioners were the owners of the property, but whether deputy commissioners had the authority to make such decisions.
Suspending the enforcement of the DRC’s orders for possessions, the chief justice referred the petitions to a yet-to-be-constituted full bench for further hearing.
Rana Saleem Latif, Muhammad Ali and others approached the court against the decisions of the DRCs in ten districts.
On Dec 22, Neelum had suspended the operation of the newly enacted Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Ordinance, 2025 and announced that a full bench would be constituted to hear and decide the matter.
The next day, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed reservations about the LHC’s decision, arguing that the move would “benefit encroachment and land-grabbing mafias”. Punjab Law Minister Malik Sohaib Ahmad Bherth, Information Minister Azma Bukhari, and treasury MPAs strongly defended the law as well in the provincial assembly.
On the other hand, on Dec 24, bar councils, irrespective of their political affiliations, endorsed the LHC’s decision. Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Chaudhry Tahir Nasrullah Warraich stated that the enactment of the law questioned the jurisdiction of patwaris and “unlawfully” empowered assistant commissioners beyond their mandate.