Lahore: A Pakistani court has taken up a petition against the possible sale of 114 kanals of land attached to a gurdwara here to the Defence Housing Authority. Gulab Singh, a member of the management committee of Bibi Nanki Gurdwara Trust, said in his petition filed in the Lahore High Court that the Evacuee Trust Property Board planned to sell the land to the Defence Housing Authority.
Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan of the Lahore High Court admitted Singh’s petition on Monday and issued a notice to ETPB Chairman Syed Asif Hashmi to submit a response.
The EPTB is responsible for maintaining the shrines and properties of minority communities across Pakistan. Singh said in his petition that a large tract of land in Mota Singh village within the Lahore Cantonment was an “evacuee trust property” and attached to Bibi Nanki Gurdwara. A trust property should be preserved but the ETPB had already disposed of most parts of the land to the Defence Housing Authority, he alleged. He alleged the ETPB was bent on selling the remaining 114 kanals of land to the Defence Housing Authority. Singh asked the court to restrain the ETPB from selling the property.
Many members of the Sikh community attended the court proceedings. The Sikh community had protested in 2009-10 against the ETPB for selling a major portion of the gurdwara’s land to the Defence Housing Authority. (PTI)
