- Maryam Nawaz warns move could embolden land-grab mafias, weaken public confidence in justice system
- Defends assembly’s constitutional right to legislate, saying legislation aimed at protecting poor, widows and vulnerable
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday voiced strong displeasure over the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to suspend the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act 2025, warning that the move could embolden land-grab mafias, weaken public confidence in the justice system and deal a serious blow to the hopes of poor and vulnerable citizens seeking legal protection for their property.
In a statement, the chief minister cautioned that the LHC’s decision would directly benefit powerful land mafias while undermining years of effort to provide relief to ordinary citizens. She said the suspension of the law was not in line with the principles laid down by the superior judiciary and would be perceived by the public as judicial backing for illegal land grabbers.
CM Maryam said the legislation had been carefully designed to offer comprehensive legal and administrative protection to vulnerable segments of society and, for the first time, empowered citizens to safeguard their legally owned land and property.
She stressed that lawmaking was a constitutional right of the provincial assembly and could not be curtailed in such a manner.
Highlighting the importance of the Act, she said it introduced a 90-day timeframe for the resolution of land and property disputes that had historically lingered for years and, in many cases, generations. She noted that land cases often remained entangled in stay orders for decades, and the new law had been drafted on the basis of evidence to address these long-standing injustices.
The chief minister said the legislation was enacted to assist millions of people across Punjab who had suffered for decades at the hands of influential land mafias. She clarified that the law was neither enacted for her personal benefit nor had its suspension caused her any personal loss.
Instead, she said, the real harm would be suffered by poor, destitute, helpless and oppressed citizens, including widows, whose cases had finally begun to see progress under the new legal framework. She warned that halting the law would shatter the fragile hope of justice that many vulnerable citizens had recently begun to feel.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved sweeping reforms to modernise forestry and environmental governance, replacing century-old colonial procedures under the Forest Act with a fully digitised system aimed at eliminating corruption and human intervention.
Under her vision, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has become Punjab’s first government department to operate entirely paper-free through the digital system E-FOAS. According to an official notification, the issuance of import licences, laboratory certifications, protection orders and official recommendations will now be carried out exclusively through E-FOAS, while any order issued outside the system will be considered invalid and liable to disciplinary action.
Each document generated will carry a unique reference number and QR code, allowing instant verification and ensuring complete digital records of all decisions, recommendations and approvals. EPA Director General Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh has formally issued implementation orders, making it mandatory for all environment-related departments to use the platform.
CM Maryam Nawaz lauded the EPA team for eliminating forgery, illegal permits and discretionary practices, terming the reforms a decisive step towards transparent, efficient and corruption-free governance in Punjab’s forestry and environmental sectors.
