Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate Forced to Relinquish Land After Four Years of Legal Battle
The
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate has finally been forced to relinquish 172
kanals and 100 square meters of land in Chauha Gujjar, Peshawar, after a
four-year legal battle. The land had been illegally occupied by the Directorate
in February 2020 for the construction of a sports complex in the constituency
of Member Provincial Assembly Fazal Elahi.
The
land acquisition had been initiated by the former Director General of Sports,
Isfandiar Khattak, with the support of the then Deputy Commissioner Peshawar,
Khalid Mehmood. Despite strong opposition from local residents, Section Four
was imposed on the land, allowing its acquisition for public purposes.
The
current directors of Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium, Saleem Raza, and Anwar Kamal
Barki, had overseen the construction of a boundary wall on the land and had
awarded a contract to HMS Construction Company for the development of the
sports complex.
However,
the local community filed a legal challenge against the land acquisition,
arguing that it was being used for political gain rather than for the benefit
of the local youth. After a protracted legal battle, the Sports Directorate was
forced to withdraw its claim to the land due to the overwhelming evidence
against it.
Similarly,
in Bitgram, the Sports Directorate had illegally occupied 36 kanals and 19
marles of land in 2014 for the construction of a sports complex. Despite the
imposition of Section Four and the allocation of funds, the Directorate was
forced to relinquish this land as well during the caretaker government.
The
reversal of these land acquisitions marks a significant victory for the local
communities and a setback for the previous PTI government's efforts to promote
sports development in the region. It serves as a reminder that the rule of law
must prevail, even in the face of powerful interests.
#KhyberPakhtunkhwa,
#SportsDirectorate, #LandGrabbing, #JusticePrevails
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