Bureau Report
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed strong concern on Tuesday on the suspension of the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act, 2025 by the Lahore High Court (LHC), arguing that the move would “benefit encroachment and land-grabbing mafias”.
Maryam‘s statement issued by the CM’s Office comes a day after LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum issued an interim order suspending the operation of the newly enacted Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act, 2025, which empowers dispute resolution committees led by deputy commissioners to resolve property disputes.
The ordinance was approved by the Punjab chief minister on Oct 31 and mandates the resolution of land disputes within 90 days.
The law has been challenged in the LHC, about which Maryam argued that its enactment was aimed at providing “long-awaited relief to millions of citizens suffering from prolonged land and property disputes”.
“The legislation, for the first time, fixed a 90-day time frame for the resolution of land and property cases that have historically dragged on for years and even generations,” she said, terming the law a “major step” toward protecting ordinary citizens from powerful land grabbers and mafias.
Maryam emphasised that the “democratically elected Punjab Assembly had passed the law to free the public from the grip of influential land mafias”.
The legislation, she insisted, empowered citizens to safeguard their legally owned land and properties.
The legislation was “evidence-based and comprehensive”, covering both administrative and legal dimensions to ensure justice for the oppressed, the CM said.
Maryam further maintained that the LHC‘s decision to suspend the ordinance’s operation “is not in line with the settled principles laid down by the superior judiciary”.
Its suspension would “benefit encroachment and land-grabbing mafias”, and the public would perceive it as state patronage of such elements, she said.
Israel defence minister vows to stay in Gaza
dna
TEL AVIV: Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday vowed Israel will remain in Gaza and pledged to establish outposts in the north of the Palestinian territory, according to a video of a speech published by Israeli media.
Speaking at an event in the Israeli settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank, Katz said: “We are deep inside Gaza, and we will never leave Gaza — there will be no such thing.”
“We are there to protect, to prevent what happened (from happening again),” he added, according to a video published by Israeli news site Ynet.
“When the time comes, God willing, we will establish in northern Gaza, Nahal outposts in place of the communities that were uprooted,” Katz said, referring to military-agricultural settlements set up by Israeli soldiers.
“We will do this in the right way and at the appropriate time.”
