AYESHA A. MALIK J. -- The Petitioners are all claimants of land allocated to them by the Lahore Development Authority ("LDA") in the year 1999 for which LDA has failed to deliver possession till date. Through this Petition, the Petitioners prayed that their applications for grant of alternate plots or current market value be considered by Respondents No,1 to 6.
2. The facts of the case are that the Petitioners were allotted exempted plots on 17.3.1999 against their land falling in Gulshan-e-Ravi Scheme. Subsequently their plots were exchanged on 27.7.1999 with other plots as described in paragraph 1 of the Writ Petition. The grievance of the Petitioners is that till date, Respondents No,1 to 6 have failed to hand over physical possession of the plots to the Petitioners. The Petitioners filed W.P. No, 13632/2008 in which they came to know that the allocated plots of the Petitioners were in the possession of encroachers who had filed W.P. No, 3708/2008.
Both the petitions were decided on 27.2.2009 wherein it has been held that a joint survey shall be conducted whereafter the land shall be demarcated.
3. Learned counsel for the Petitioners argued that despite these orders, the encroachers are still in possession of the land and Respondents No,1 to 6 have made no effort whatsoever to get possession of the land and hand it over to the Petitioners. Therefore learned counsel argued that given the fact that the Petitioners have been waiting for more than 17 years to take possession of the land which has admittedly been allotted to them, the Respondents No,1 to 6 should give the Petitioners alternate plots or compensate as per the market value. Learned counsel for the Petitioners has placed reliance on the case titled Khushdil Khan Malik v. Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi Cantt. and other (PLD 2017.
4. Report and parawise comments have been filed by Respondents No,1 to 6. In terms of the arguments of the learned counsel for the stated Respondents the land was allotted to the Petitioners, The Respondents the land was allotted to the Petitioners. The Respondents do not deny that they have not been able to give possession of the said land. It is their case that the land in question is in the possession of encroachers who have engaged them in litigation over the years on account of which LDA has not been able to take possession of the land. Learned counsel argued that currently civil suit No, 300/1/17 titled Syed Riaz Ali Shah v. Lahore Development Authority, etc. has been filed by Respondent No,7 in the Court of Senior Civil Judge, Lahore who vide order dated 26.5.2017 has restrained the defendants (LDA) from dispossessing the plaintiff (encroachers) from the suit property. Learned counsel further argued that Respondents No,1 to 6 are trying to have the encroachers dispossessed however it will take some time and as soon as they are able to take possession of the land, they will hand over it to the Petitioners.
5. Heard and record perused.
6. The only grievance of the Petitioners is that they have been waiting since 1999 to take possession of land which was admittedly allotted to them. The allotment nor their right to possession of the land are in dispute, The only difficulty is that the plots allotted to the Petitioners are in the possession of the encroachers for almost 17 years, therefore Respondents No, 1 to 6 have not been able to deliver possession of the land. It is the case of the IDA that the land in question is in the ownership of LDA, however the encroachers claim that it is their land. Various writ petitions including ICA No, 25315/2017 were filed before this Court and a civil suit is also pending in which interim relief has been granted to the plaintiff on 26.5.2017. The record shows that the LDA has not made any effort to take possession of the land and is simply defending itself before the Courts in the litigation instituted by the encroachers/claimants. In this situation, the Petitioners are not at fault. They are entitled to take possession of the land which had been allotted to them. So far as the LDA is concerned it is obligated to ensure that the land that LDA allots is the land possession of which can be handed over to the allottees. The LDA should not allot land which is in dispute with encroachers/claimants. Since the LDA is unable to deliver possession of the land that it has allotted to the Petitioners, it is obligated to hand over alternate plots of the same value or else compensate them with the current market value.
7. In view of the aforesaid the instant Writ Petition is allowed. Respondents No,1 to 6 are directed to provide alternate plots to the Petitioners of the same value or to compensate them at the current market value of the plots.