PESHAWAR: After nearly six years of litigation, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday finally concluded proceedings in a long-standing case concerning land settlement in Chitral.
A division bench comprising Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Dr Khursheed Iqbal heard the final arguments.The petitioners were represented by Barrister Asad-ul-Mulk, Dr Adnan Khan and Muhibullah Tarichvi, while the provincial and federal governments were represented by Additional Advocate General Muzammil Khan and Deputy Attorney General Gohar Rahman Khattak.
Later in the day, the court announced that the petition had been “disposed of”, with details to follow in the written judgment, which was awaited.The dispute has a long and complex history. Chitral was a princely state that acceded to Pakistan at the time of partition when its ruler, His Highness Muzaffar-ul-Mulk, executed an instrument of accession with Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
It remained a “federated state” under the 1956 and 1962 constitutions and was formally merged into Pakistan in 1969 through the Dir, Chitral and Swat Administration Regulation, 1969.
Following the merger, the Chitral Land Disputes Inquiry Commission was constituted to determine the properties of the ex-ruler, the provincial government and disputed private properties. However, properties of ordinary residents that were not under dispute did not fall within its mandate, and the Commission remained silent on those areas.
In 1975, the Home and Tribal Affairs Department issued a notification under the Distribution of Property (Chitral) Regulation, 1974, which had constitutional protection under Article 8 of the Constitution and could not be challenged on the basis of fundamental rights.
The notification declared all “wastelands”, “mountains”, “pastures”, “jungle”, “chiragahs” and “shikargahs” as government property.The notification remained largely unnoticed for 45 years until the provincial government began implementing it during the ongoing land settlement process, recording the title of 97% of Chitral’s landmass in the name of the provincial government.
This move caused widespread concern among residents and prompted community leaders-including ex-MPA Ghulam Muhammad, ex-MNA Shahzada Iftikhar-ud-Din, Inayatullah Aseer and others-to approach the Peshawar High Court in 2019.
In 2021, the court issued a restraining order preventing the provincial government from notifying the settlement record, an order that has remained in effect since then.Due to the complexity of the case and the constitutional questions involved, hearings were held on multiple dates.
On Monday, after hearing concluding arguments from the AAG and rebuttal from Barrister Asad-ul-Mulk, the bench reserved its decision. Later, it announced that the petition had been disposed of.The implications of this decision will become clear once the court releases its written judgment.
