Evacuee Trust Property Board Lahore. PHOTO: ETPB
The Federal Constitutional Court has annulled the decision that classified the allocation of Evacuee Trust Property to the Punjab Education Department as a state dispute. The court has remanded the case to the Lahore High Court for a fresh decision.
The Evacuee Trust Property Board was established in 1960 with its headquarters at Lahore to look after the Evacuee Trust Properties/Land left behind by the Sikhs/Hindus who migrated to India during partition in 1947-48. The ETPB states that its objective is: “To oversee and control all Evacuee Trust land/property attached to charitable, religious or educational trusts or institutions or any property forming part of the ‘Trust Pool'”.
The hearing, conducted by a two-member bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, questioned whether the allotment of the Evacuee Trust Property to the Education Ministry could really be considered a dispute between two governments. He further asked how land historically used for Hindu cremations had been allotted to the department.
Justice Rizvi observed that construction would likely have taken place on the land since its allotment in 1989. He also asked how the Punjab Chief Minister had approved the allotment of the Evacuee Trust Property to the Education Department. The Additional Solicitor General of Punjab sought time to seek instructions.
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Justice Rizvi asked what steps the Evacuee Trust Property Board itself had taken regarding the allotment and why the board had filed a complaint in the name of the central government. He noted that this was not a dispute between the federal and provincial governments.
Justice Rizvi stated that the decision of the Lahore High Court was set aside and the case was remanded for retrial. The Lahore High Court will now hear the case afresh. Both the ETPB and the Additional Solicitor General agreed with the court’s suggestion.
