ISLAMABAD (January 4th 2019): The Supreme Court today barred the state owned Pakistan Railways from selling its land in the federation and provinces and concluded the case pertaining to railways land.
Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid appeared before the court as a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the case pertaining to railways land.
During the hearing, the CJP observed, “The Supreme Court has imposed a ban on the sale of railways land. Railways land is the property of the federation and the department can lease it but not sell it.”
The CJP said, “Provinces can use railways’ land but cannot sell it. However, land should not be leased for 99 years.”
At this, the railways minister said, “We are not even selling a single square yard of land. Some land has been leased for three to five years”.
“Railways department is earning Rs 3 billion annually through its land. If leases are cancelled, then railways department will suffer losses”, the Minister for Railways added.
Barring the Pakistan Railways from selling its land in the federation and provinces, the bench remarked, “The land which is in use by the railways cannot be sold.”
“Land which is not required for railways’ operations can be leased for a period of five years,” the bench further stated. “Pakistan Railways does not have the permission to construct any housing society”, it added.
Ordering that Pakistan Railways does not allow any encroachments on its land, the bench stated, “The interim order on the Royal Palm Club case will uphold.”
“We are separating the Royal Palm Club case from this matter and will hear it separately,” the bench said and concluded up the main case related to Railways lands.