ABDUL MAJEED KHALID Versus GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB
This petition for leave to appeal concerns a dispute over the use of a plot of land, Khasra No. 8277 in Kot Pucca Qilla, Kasur, which has been utilized for the construction of a girls' primary school. The petitioners, a group of twenty residents, challenged the construction, asserting that the plot was unsuitable for a school and had historically been used by the community as a funeral/gathering place and for parking vehicles. The core legal question was whether the petitioners could successfully challenge the public utility project despite the lack of exclusive individual possession and the fact that the project was undertaken with the approval of the majority of the local residents. The Supreme Court held that since the petitioners failed to establish exclusive possession or a unique individual right, and given that the school was constructed with the support of the majority of the village inhabitants, the petition lacked merit. The Court affirmed that it would not interfere in such public interest matters where the project serves the broader community.
- Can residents challenge the construction of a public school on village land without proving exclusive individual possession?
- Does the approval of a majority of residents for a public utility project preclude a minority from challenging it in court?
ORDER
1. SAAD SAOOD JAN, J. ‑‑The dispute between the parties relates to a plot, bearing Khasra No.8277 in Kct Pucca Qilla, Kasur. It is part of the village abadi. A Primary School for girls has been constructed on it. The petitioners are residents of Kot Pucca Qilla. They object to the use of the plot for the purposes of setting up a school therein. Their case is that the plot is unsuitable for a girl school and that they have been using it as Janj/Funeral ghar for parking their vehicles.
2. The petitioners are 20 in number. It is not their case that any of them is individually in exclusive possession of the plot or it is only they that use the plot as Janj/Funeral ghar or parking place for their vehicles. The school has already been constructed with the approval and at the instance of the majority of the residents of the abadi. In the circumstances, it is not a fit case for this Court to interfere. Leave is refused.
3. M.I./A‑211/S Petition dismissed.