The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Punjab Auqaf Department to submit a detailed report on the land illegally occupied by Punjab government for the Aashyana Housing Scheme. A two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Ghulam Rabbani heard the application against the Punjab government for starting the Aashyana Housing Scheme on Pir Noor Shah’s property.
The court directed the Auqaf Department to submit a comprehensive report containing details of land retrieved so far from illegal occupants. Punjab Advocate General Khawaja Haris Ahmad submitted a report stating that the Punjab government had started this welfare housing project in the name of Pir Noor Shah. He said the money that would be collected on basis of commercial activities, would be deposited in Pir Noor Shah’s Welfare fund. The chief justice directed the competent authority to accelerate the process of land retrieval in accordance with the law.
Aashyana Housing Scheme counsel Tariq Mehmood told the court that the income from the land, adjacent to Ashiana Housing Scheme, was over Rs 9 million per year. He said 14 plots had so far been leased out. After leasing, the income of the land would further increase and would be spent on the welfare project of Pir Noor Shah, he added.