Pakistan Supreme Court criticizes military’s focus on defense matters instead of business ventures
Islamabad, Feb 15 (PTI) Pakistan’s Supreme Court has strongly criticized the business activities of the powerful military and sought a commitment from the government to ensure that the armed forces focus exclusively on defense-related matters rather than commercial ventures. .
The assurance was sought by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faiz Isa, who was leading a three-judge bench in a case probing the use of military land for commercial purposes.
The apex court stressed that all institutions of the country should remain within their constitutional limits, Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.
The case was initiated by former CJP Gulzar Ahmed in 2021 when the court’s attention was drawn to the alleged illegal use of Cantonment Board land in Karachi, which was acquired for strategic purposes but used for commercial gains. I went.
On Wednesday, Justice Isa expressed regret that the Army has set up marriage halls on military land and then sought assurance from Pakistan Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan that the Army will not engage in running the business.
“Can you get this assurance?” Justice Isa told Usman that each institution should remain within its jurisdiction and work as per its mandate.
The Attorney General acknowledged that the principle demands that everyone should do his own thing.
During the hearing, counsel for the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) told the court that the building that gave rise to the dispute belonged to the board because the person who was allotted the land sold it on fake papers after which he built a five-storey building. Went. Was built on land.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar wondered whether the ETPB was a spectator when the building was being constructed.
Chief Justice Isa said this would not have been possible without the participation of the Sindh Building Control Authority.
The court said that the assets of Karachi Registry should be audited by the Federal Board of Revenue. PTI NSA/SH AKJ NSA NSA
Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of an auto-generated syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done by ABP Live in the copy.