Govt decides to take over Pakistan Railways land

Cantonment Board Nowshera refused to grant NOC regarding Construction of Multistory Building on Pakistan Railways Land

Aftab Ahmed

Islamabad: The government has decided to transfer the land of Pakistan railways to the newly born Federal Government Properties Management Authority due to a dispute between the former and cantonment board.

Cantonment Board Nowshera and Pakistan Railways entered into dispute after the latter auctioned land for commercial use.

However, Cantonment Board Nowshera had refused to grant NOC regarding the Construction of Multistory Buildings on Railway Land.

Ministry of Railways briefed the Cabinet regarding the construction of a multistory building on Pakistan Railways land at Nowshera.

Background

Pakistan Railways leased out 44,000 sft (9.77 Kanals) land in Nowshera in 2003 to M/s Amir Builders for commercial utilization for 33 years through advertisement and open bidding at Rs. 24.444 million premium and Rs. 1/sft annual rent.

Cantonment Board Nowshera had not granted NOC for the construction of the building.

The lessee filed a petition in Peshawar High Court against the Cantonment Board, which was decided in his favour on December 7, 2005.

Despite the decision of the High Court, Cantonment Authorities refused to issue NOC for the construction of the building.

In 2012, the Cantonment Board Nowshera and Ministry of Defence (MoD) filed separate appeals in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the judgment of the High Court.

On November 7, 2019, the Supreme Court directed the Ministry of Railways (MoR) to resolve the dispute with the Ministry of Defence and in case of failure to move a summary for the decision of the Cabinet.

The matter’ remained unresolved and, in the meanwhile, the

lessee filed a contempt application before Supreme Court for non-compliance with the court order.

The application was heard on June 2, 2020, and the court granted two months’ period to the Pakistan Ministry of Railways for resolution of the issue.

On July 3, 2020, stakeholders held a meeting at the Ministry of defence in which Pakistan Railways shared revenue records of Railways’ ownership with the Military Land Authorities.

They decided to undertake joint demarcation. A joint demarcation committee met on July 20, 2020, however, the cantonment officials insisted on demarcation as per their own map ＆。MEO/Peshawar GIS record.

Pakistan Railways objected to it and they failed to carry out demarcation.

Railways Division moved a summary to the Prime Minister.PM officer referred the matter to the ministry of defence for comments.

Railways Division moved a summary to the Cabinet, incorporating observations of Defence Division, on which Cabinet constituted a committee.

The committee comprised of Minister for Federal Education & Professional Training, Minister for Law & Justice Division, Minister for Defence and Minister for Railways.

Recommendations to return Pakistan Railways Land

The committee has made the following recommendations on February 24, 2021.

The committee was not the appropriate forum to decide ownership of the land but one thing was clear, the ultimate owner, the Federal Government, originally allotted this for Defence purposes and later a part of it gave to Pakistan Railways for the specific purpose of improving communication.

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The Ministry of Railways conceded in the meeting that the cantonment board, which has been designated by the Govt. to oversee military lands can regulate its use within its designated jurisdiction according to the parameters of the law & rules.

Hence a NOC from the cantonment board is necessary for any construction in the cantonment area.

The committee felt that since the original purpose of the land allotted to Railways was for communication, any other use of this land in this particular case is not permissible

Railway Division sought the decision of the Cabinet in the instant matter.

During the discussion, the Defence Division underscored that the federal government had allotted the land for Defence purposes, which was given to Railways for the specific purpose of improving railways infrastructure. The utilization of this land for commercial activities is, therefore, not permissible.

Railways Division argued that the Railways needed to supplement its revenue generation through commercial activities to shoulder the burden of mounting pensions of its employees.

Otherwise, it had no choice but to depend on Finance Division to foot the bill.

Since both the parties agreed that the original owner of the land was the federal government, cabinet members suggested that the federal government should take over this land.

The government is setting up Government Properties Management Authority to optimally manage the land assets of the federal government.

The Cabinet took note of the presentation by the Railways Division on ＇Construction of Multistory Buildings on Railway Land at Nowshera’, and decided to return 44,000 sft (9.77 Kanals) land in Nowshera to the Federal Government.

The Federal Government Properties Management Authority will take over it after its establishment for its optimal utilization.