Cantonment land under commercial use should be returned to govt: SC

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan, on Tuesday ordered that the Cantonment land under commercial use should be returned to government.

According to details, hearing a case about military lands, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed said that all the land of the cantonments must be restored to its original condition.

“Allotting houses or plots, cinemas, wedding halls, schools and home to high-ranking army officers do not in any way serve defense purposes. Cantonments are just for strategic purposes,” the judge remarked.

The secretary told the court that they had removed marquees for weddings on military land in Karachi. The armed forces have decided to stop commercial activities on military and cantonments lands, he said.

However, the court found the report unsatisfactory. It allowed the Defense Secretary to withdraw the report for resubmission.
The chief justice said that all illegal buildings in Karachi are being demolished and it is not possible to spare illegal military constructions. “If we spare military’s illegal constructions, how could we demolish all other structures” constructed in breach of the law, the CJP said.