The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday restrained the Punjab government from taking further action regarding a disputed 11.5-kanal property linked to FC College University’s Ewing Hall Hostel in the Neela Gumbad area and sought a report from the provincial authorities.
Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad passed the order on a petition, filed by the FCCU Registrar challenging the government’s actions concerning the land.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the Punjab government had forcibly taken possession of the disputed property on June 11 and that the cancellation of the lease was unlawful. The lawyer submitted that the land had originally been leased to FC College in 1915 and that the lease term was extended until 2048 in 2018. He requested the court to restore possession of the land to the college pending a final decision in the case and to restrain the government from taking any further action.
During the hearing, the Additional Advocate General, representing the Punjab government, raised objections to the maintainability of the petition. He contended that FC College had failed to pay lease rent since 1975, which amounted to a violation of the lease agreement.
The law officer further argued that the land had been allotted for educational purposes but was later used for commercial activities, and therefore the petition should be dismissed. At this, the court observed that if the government intended to recover lease dues from the college administration, it should have issued a formal notice before initiating action.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court suspended the operation of the Board of Revenue decision regarding the cancellation of the lease and restrained the Punjab government from proceeding further in the matter and directed it to submit a report on the disputed property.