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The decision by Lahore High Court’s chief justice to suspend the operation of the newly-enacted Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Ordinance, 2025, has raised several pertinent questions, and has put the executive in the dock. The ordinance had empowered the district administration to act as ‘court of law’ and decide on property disputes within 90 days. Though the intention on the part of the government was to address the pain-staking delays in a lethargic judicial system; it has raised concerns on transparency and merit of adjudication. The LHC CJ raised pertinent questions, calling for some in-depth introspection and qualified answers. These questions are: what motivated the executive to vest unchecked powers in certain individuals? What purpose did the ordinance serve? Why was it enacted?
The order to bring up the impugned legislation before the full bench, suspend decisions taken under the new law and undo possession in the cases that had been decided is a judicial correct. Likewise, the observation that “under the new law even Jati Umra [the family residence of the ruling elite] can be vacated within half an hour” goes on to establish the draconian powers vested in the administration and police officials. Last but not least, the learned judge also raised concerns about the prevalence of fake property registrations and forged documents, questioning how such risks were addressed under the law.
This judicial diatribe has simply exposed the fault-lines in our system of governance, and how the organs of the state are pitched against each other for serving exigent motives. It is a foregone conclusion that independence of the judiciary is being axed, and an effort is being made to tame it through out-of-the-parliament ordinances, and bulldozed legislations such as the 26th and 27th amendments. It is a good move, nonetheless, that the judges are now taking note of such insertions, and sitting in judgment over their practicability and veracity under the law. This activism to invoke conscience must graduate to new levels of reawakening in upholding the Constitution.
