A nine-member full bench of the Supreme Court heard a petition with regard to allotment of government lands to parties in the upcoming Gwadar Seaport area during the past ten years, allegedly in a non-transparent manner, and violating rules and regulations of allotment of government land.
In its interim order, the Apex Court directed Senior Member, Board of Revenue, Balochistan, to review all allotments and, after due process of law, cancel illegal allotments and submit a report to the Court.
The Court said that it would not allow unscrupulous allotment of government land to oblige favourites, or make money, and directed SMBR not to implement illegal orders of senior government functionaries.
During hearing, the Court observed that sale of residential and commercial plots in the Gwadar city area by some private parties might turn out to be the biggest scam of the country.
The Court pointed out that some parties were running frequent advertisements in national newspapers offering residential and commercial plots for sale, but Balochistan government had never bothered to check whether these parties had title of the land to offer it for sale.
When counsel for Balochistan BR, Wasim Sajjad, expressed apprehension that review of the land record might discourage private investment in the area, the Court observed that only transparency, good governance, and rule of law promoted investment and confidence.
The Court further instructed the Balochistan government to take strict action against all those who were involved in illegal allotment of government property.
The nine-member full bench of the Supreme Court comprised Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbassi, Justice Mian Shakarullah Jan, Justice Saiyed Saeed Asshad and Justice Nasirul Mulk.