Lahore Evacuees Trust Property Board. PHOTO: ETPB
The Federal Constitutional Court overturned the decision classifying the allocation of evacuees’ trust property to the Punjab Education Department as a government dispute. The court has returned the matter to the Lahore High Court for further decision.
Evacuee Trust Property Board was established in 1960 with its headquarters in Lahore to look after Evacuee Trust properties/lands left over from Sikhs/Hindus who migrated to India during partition in 1947-48. The ETPB states that its objectives are to “supervise and control all evacuee trust lands/properties attached to charitable, religious or educational trusts or institutions or any property forming part of the ‘trust fund’.”
The hearing, led by a two-member bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, questioned whether the allocation of evacuees’ trust properties to the Department of Education could really be considered a dispute between two governments. He further asked how the land historically used for Hindu cremations had been allocated to the department.
Justice Rizvi noted that it was likely that construction had been carried out on the land since its allotment in 1989. He also asked how the Punjab Chief Minister had authorized the allotment of the evacuees’ trust property to the Education Department. The Additional Advocate General of Punjab sought time for instructions.
Read: SC returns lease dispute to ETPB
Justice Rizvi asked what steps the Evacuee Trust Property Board itself had taken regarding the allotment and why the Board had filed an appeal on behalf of the central government. He noted that this is not a dispute between the federal and provincial governments.
Justice Rizvi stated that the decision of the Lahore High Court would be set aside and the case would be remanded for rehearing. The Lahore High Court will hear the matter again. Both the ETPB and the Additional Advocate General accepted the court’s proposal.
