The government had to take its report back, submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) on its behalf by Secretary Defence Lt General (r) Mian Hilal on Tuesday in the commercial use of military land case after the SC rejected it, saying it was contrary to the facts, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The court ordered the defence secretary to submit a comprehensive report within four weeks. It is reminded here that the SC had taken suo motu notice of the commercial use of military land.

Addressing the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan on the occasion, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed asked him to tell this to the defence secretary that the report he had submitted was not factual. “The report claims that buildings in the areas under military’s control had been razed to the ground; however, truth of the matter is that these buildings are very much there.”

“Structures were razed at Karachi’s Gizri Road overnight. These were built before we could even wake up,” the CJP regretted, and questioned, “Were cinemas, marriage halls, petrol pumps, schools and housing societies built on these lands for defence purposes? How on earth a marriage hall could be built on the piece of land belonging to Pakistan Army?”  

The CJP wondered how could the apex court order for demolition of illegal structures built by civilians on military lands without first ordering the demolition of those built by the army itself. “We plan to order the demolition of all buildings built illegally in Karachi,” CJP Gulzar said, and made it clear that the cantonment land could not be divided into categories.

It is a pity, he went on to add, that the cantonment land was also being used for commercial purposes in Lahore and Quetta.