Indigenous people are rightful owners of unsettled lands: Balochistan court
The Balochistan High Court has said that the unsettled lands of the province belong to the indigenous people and not the government. The verdict was announced on March 18.
“Unsettled lands cannot be considered as ownerless property; therefore, the landowners who prove their entitlement are deemed to be the rightful owners,” said a 22-page judgement authored by Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
“Most land in Balochistan is unsettled, like some of it is settled, but the land in front of those settled areas up till mountains is vacant and is therefore unsettled,” the judgement explains. It said that indigenous tribes have been using these lands for agricultural and grazing purposes for decades, adding that the government cannot be the “rightful owner” because these tribes and subtribes have lived on these lands even before the creation of Pakistan.
“In absence of a record of right, longstanding possession and control of the tribes or sub-tribes over the undocumented unsettled lands give a good legitimate title to landowners against the government,” it said.
The court gave its ruling on the two petitions–filed in October 2018 and November 202—- by agriculturalists and indigenous people. They challenged the government’s claim on unsettled lands in the province. In the end, the high court clubbed all those petitions and passed a single judgment.
Here’s what the petitioners argued:
- They have been residing in these areas for centuries and own agricultural land, grazing fields and forests there.
- They use the open fields for pasture and collecting firewood stones.
- Most cultivable areas remain uncultivated because of the non-availability of resources.
- The government must ensure the settlement of people after every 25 years but it failed to do so.
- Unsettled lands have yet to be recorded in the government’s name.
- Before Partition, the government acquired land from the inhabitants after compensating them or giving them gifts.
- Proof of ownership should be based on longstanding possession and control over land.
- The government formed a committee, comprising ex-speaker and Balochistan MPAs, that concluded that government is not the owner of these lands.
The advocate-general argued, on the other hand, that the land is presumed to belong to the government under Section 50(1) of the Land Revenue Act. He said that the government can claim the land because of the absence of any rightful ownership.
In 1991, the government recorded certain unsettled lands in its name and thereafter, allotted some of these lands to some private persons, the judgement said. “By not conducting settlement in the area, naturally the landowners concerned will have no documentary proof, for which, they cannot be held responsible and deprived of their rights.”
Most of the lands in the province are unsettled, therefore, there is no document to prove ownership, the court remarked. “If documents are believed to be the only source of proof of ownership, then such principle is equally applicable to the government.”
The government “requires lands for public purposes such as education, health, research, sports, parks, dams, water supply schemes, mosques, graveyards, and other amenity purposes”. It is required to earmark reasonable land only for such purposes during the course of settlement proceedings, the order said.
The judgement was given by a larger bench comprising Justice Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan, Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Abdullah Baloch, and Justice Abdul Hameed Baloch.
Muhammad Ishaq Nasir, Manzoor Shah and Amir Lehri were appointed amicus curiae to assist the court.
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