Despite the fact that the courts were shifted to a new judicial complex some two years, the Pattoki tehsil administration is yet to take the building and premises of the old tehsil courts situated at Faisal Colony Road into their possession.
The new tehsil courts are situated at Baharwal Mor, some six kilometers from the old one, but old building is still occupied by some lawyers as the local judiciary didn’t hand over the judicial rooms to the administration.
According to a report in the local media, the old tehsil courts cover about one acre of expensive land owned by the provincial government and alleged negligence of the tehsil administration has caused the old tehsil courts to be transformed into a food street, having fish, barbecue, used clothes and decoration shops.
It appears that the tehsil administration is ‘reluctant’ to retrieve the land from the lawyers and local judiciary while the judicial administration is not interested in handing over the building to the tehsil admin.
A lawyer requesting anonymity said that five expensive shops that belonged to the Pattoki TMA had been sealed on the orders of the Supreme Court, but the occupants had rented out the front portion of the shops and were receiving up to Rs5,000 from vendors. He alleged that a lawyer had demolished public toilets in tehsil courts to build a house that was rented out as well.
When contacted Pattoki AC Muhammad Asif Dogar said revenue officials, including tehsildar, were working in a building declared dangerous while the local judiciary was reluctant to hand over keys of an abandoned computer centre and other rooms.