BHC declares land acquisition DHA 2015 Act illegal
News Desk :
A larger bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) declared some land acquisition articles under the Defense Housing Authority (DHA) Act 2015 contrary to the constitution. DHA is a non-governmental organization and it has no authority to acquire land from the public, the bench ordered.
The larger bench comprises of chief justice BHC, Mr. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Mr. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Mr. Justice Muhammad Hashim Kakar, Mr. Justice Abdullah Baloch and Mr. Justice Abdul Hameed Baloch.
The former chief minister of Balochistan, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch led government had adopted the DHA act 2015 with regard to land acquisition. PML N and PKMAP were also coalition partners of Mr. Baloch’s government that had unanimously adopted the 2015 DHA Act.
Senior lawyer Muhammad Ishaq Nasar and Kashir Kakar Advocate had challenged the DHA act that it was contrary to basic fundamental rights. However, senior lawyer Irfan Qadir, Amir Rana Advocate and Adnan Basharat were counsels for the DHA during the proceedings. The lawyers pleaded that only official organizations i.e. Quetta Development Authority and Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) had the mandate to acquire land from the people. DHA being a non-governmental organization has no constitutional mandate to acquire land, the bench ordered.
In its 22 pages detailed judgment, the bench termed some articles of the act in violation of the 1973 constitution and declared them null and illegal. The bench mentioned that only provincial and federal governments have the mandate to acquire land.
The government that adopted the 2015 DHA act demonstrated incompetency, the bench remarked. The former nationalists led government had passed the DHA act 2015 from Balochistan Assembly without any opposition.
BHC declares land acquisition DHA 2015 Act illegal
