Giving a big decision in the favour of people donating land for philanthropic purposes, which is being described as a judicial precedent, the Lahore High Court (LHC), in its 10-page verdict on Wednesday, ruled that if the government failed to complete the project for which the land had been donated, the land would have to be returned to its owner, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Justice Raheel Kamran, who authored the decision, accepted the petition filed by Muhammad Iqbal, and said that the petitioner could not be deprived of his property due to the negligence of the Department of Education.
He wrote that when the purpose for which the land had been acquired ceased to exist, it was illegal on the part of the government to continue to occupy somebody’s property.
Four-kanal of land had been donated for the construction of a school in Gageewali village of Gujranwala.
However, despite the passage of 16 years, the education department failed to build any structure on it.
The court ordered the cancellation of transfer of land by making changes in the revenue record, and declared appellate court’s null and void by upholding the civil judge Gujranwala’s verdict given in 2015.
