' The Highway Department, Government of Punjab, the petitioners are in occupation of a strip of land on the river Ravi near Lahore and have set up a store there. Mirza Muhammad Hanif, respondent who claims to be the owner of two Kanals four Marlas of this land has obtained the orders of eviction dated 18-5-1983. The petitioners challenged these orders in appeal before the learned Additional District Judge, Lahore, but the appeal was dismissed on 28-7-1983. The Highway Department has now invoked the constitutional jurisdiction of this Court. It has been urged that Muhammad Hanif respondent possesses no title to the property and that the Rent Controller had no jurisdiction to order the eviction of the petitioners as tenancy was not proved.
2. The two Courts below are agreed that the land belongs to the respondent who acquired interest in it vide registered sale-deed P.1 and that the owner of the property had agreed to give the property on rent to the Highway Department. For this purpose reliance was placed on correspondence between the Executive Engineer and the Sub-Divisional Officer, P. 2 and P.3. IL does not, therefore, lie in the mouth of the Highway Department to claim that the orders of the Rent Controller were illegal.
3. Admittedly the property does not belong to the Highway Department. They are no doubt in possession of it, but without any warrant of possession. The land is privately owned but a Govt.
Department refuses to vacate it or pay for its possession. This is in brazen disregard of the right of property of the citizen. The relations between the State and the citizen in a civilised community demand that the State vacates its unlawful possession of the property of the citizen, rather than seek a writ to continue the illegal occupation.
' In view of the above considerations there is no merit in the writ petition. It is dismissed. The petitioners are, however, allowed a period of two months to hand over the vacant possession of the property to the respondent. There shall be no order as to costs.