KARACHI: A multi-billion-rupee land scam, involving the alleged illegal conversion of thousands of acres of prime state land into housing projects of a foundation of a federal government entity and others, has emerged in Jamshoro district.
Official documents available with ‘The News’ reveal that around 8,789 acres of land in Deh Babar Band, Taluka Thano Bula Khan of district Jamshoro worth of billions of rupees, adjacent to Karachi, was declared state property by the then deputy commissioner of Jamshoro and then additional commissioner-II of Hyderabad on December 14, 2022.
Despite this, following an appeal of the parties, including the foundation, former Member of Land Utilisation on December 14, 2022, set aside the orders of DC and the additional commissioner, passed an unusual order, declaring the land as private and directing the foundation to pay Rs 200,000 per acre as a cost of land, a fraction of its actual market value, which is around Rs50 million per acre.
In reply to a query former Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Baqaullah Unar on September 9, 2024, moved a summary to the chief minister, rejected the Member LU’s decision and stance, reaffirming the land’s state ownership, and warning that its loss would cause huge financial damage to the national exchequer.
The SMBR in said summary was of the view that the order of the Member LU purports to be against the statement of conditions (land grant policy) notified by the BoR, Sindh of 2006, and also in contravention of the restraining order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a suo motu case 16/2011.
The SMBR, in same summary, added that an area of 1116-13 acres of precious state land was ordered in favour of the foundation, which was beyond authority, at Rs200,000 per acre.
However, as per the official documents just days before his retirement the same SMBR, as a head of a two-member board, reversed his own stance, rejected the Jamshoro DC’s revision application of ‘land as state land’ as time-barred and approved the conversion in favour of the encroachers, effectively paving the way for the controversial housing schemes to proceed, declaring the Member LU’s decision as lawful.
Official records show that on February 11, 2021, the Additional Commissioner-II Hyderabad, using powers under Section 164 of the Sindh Land Revenue Act 1967, had cancelled land entries for same 8,789-13 acres land, including 1116-13 acres land under ASF Foundation’s control, after concluding the ownership documents were neither original nor genuine, declaring the said land as state land. When contacted, the representative of the foundation’s housing scheme told The News that no illegality was done on the part of the foundation. He concluded that the agreed per-acre amount had been deposited for the land.
Former SMBR Baqaullah Unar told The News that DC sent a reference to declare the said land as state land, but full board did not endorse it and dismissed it as time-barred, and did not pass any order in favour of any party.
Unar added a notice was taken by the additional commissioner, Hyderabad who declared the land as state land, but then Member Land Utilization rejected the stance of DC and the additional commissioner and accepted the challan. He added that the two members were treated as full board according to Board of Revenue Act and no law was violated in the process.
