LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday restrained the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) from taking disciplinary action against two citizens in a land transfer dispute and issued a stay order against an inquiry.
Justice Khalid Ibn-i-Aziz passed the order hearing a petition filed by a Sheikhupura resident, Naseeb Gujjar and another man.
Advocate Mian Dawood, the petitioners’ counsel, argued that his clients had purchased land in Farooqabad in 2013 from owners who had held it since 1980 and completed all legal formalities, including registration, mutation and possession.
He alleged that members of a land-grabbing group later purchased adjoining land and prepared a fake sale deed to take over the petitioners’ property. The petitioners challenged the alleged fake deed before a civil court, he added.
The counsel further stated that the group had approached the ACE on the recommendation of a local PML-N MNA, following which the department launched an inquiry into the civil dispute.
He argued that the ACE had no jurisdiction to intervene in disputes relating to land mutations. He pointed out that the high court had previously struck down its authority to interfere in such matters.
The counsel requested the court to declare the ACE inquiry beyond its jurisdiction and set it aside.
The judge suspended the inquiry and directed the ACE to submit a detailed reply before the next hearing. — Staff Reporter