ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday resumed hearing a case regarding encroachment of the land owned by the Hindu community in Sindh. Minorities lawmaker Ramesh Kumar informed the bench headed by Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar that Syed Khursheed Shah’s name was being taken in illegal encroachment of land owned by the Hindu community in Sukkur. The CJP then asked if Kumar was referring to the opposition leader Khursheed Shah. The PTI minister affirmed that opposition leader Khursheed Shah was named in the report from Sukkur. CJP then said that the court was issuing notices to the people who had encroached these lands. The bench also expressed its displeasure over the absence of the Advocate General (AG) of Sindh and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him. The court ordered the AG to submit the fine in Supreme Court’s dam fund. MNA Ramesh Kumar informed the bench that Domkis, Mazaris and Shahs had encroached lands of Hindus. “What action has been taken against the encroachers?” inquired the CJP. Minister Kumar informed him that a list of encroached land had been finalised in Larkana decision. He then informed the court that land in Larkana, Dharamshala and Gaoshala had been encroached by land grabbers. “Land grabbers did not even spare the community’s crematorium,” he informed the bench. “The land of Professor Bhagwan Devi was encroached using 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 found no reason to adjourn the case. In an earlier hearing MNA Ramesh Kumar had said that the committee had highlighted areas with encroached land. He told the court that 45 applications were received from Larkana alone regarding the land encroachment issue. 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 in 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 and added that many members of the community had already left. Published in Daily Times, December 1st 2018.