LAHORE: The Railways Minister, Khwaja Saad Rafique, has stated that the Supreme Court’s 2019 verdict on the issue of the land lease has caused billions of rupees in annual revenue loss to the cash-strapped department.
He also urged the Supreme Court to accept the review petition and allow the department to lease its land for commercial purposes for at least 20 years, allowing Pakistan Railways to increase revenue as the department is still struggling to pay its employees and pensioners on time.
The minister, sharing the details, stated, “We only earned Rs. 2.7 billion in revenue last year, which could have been increased to Rs. 7 billion but as a result of this decision, the PR suffered a loss of billions of rupees.”
It is relevant to mention here that, while hearing a case related to the Pakistan Railways’ land lease at throwaway prices in January 2019, the apex court’s then three-member bench led by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar ordered the department not to sell or lease its land for more than five years.
Khwaja further argued that private parties do not typically lease railway land for five years. Therefore, PR wants SC to allow it to lease out its 175,000-acre land for commercial purposes for a medium-term lease of 20 years.
To meet the challenge, Pakistan Railways has decided to allow private housing schemes to use its land for the construction of underpasses and other infrastructure, he added.
