ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA’s) appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict in a land acquisition case.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, heard the case.
During the course of proceedings, the court was informed that WAPDA had acquired 24 kanals and 15 marlas of land from a person in Mohabatabad area of Mardan against Rs359 per Marla while the PHC had ordered WAPDA to pay Rs4,000 per marla instead.
Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, addressing Advocate Shakirullah Afridi, counsel for the WAPDA, asked was not it wrong for the Authority to acquire a citizen’s ancestral land for Rs359 per Marla only?
He asked the counsel, if he had any idea about the rate of land in Mardan.
Counsel for WAPDA replied that it was a barren land and that was why the rate of the land was only Rs359 per Marla.
Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said that the court had learnt that per Marla price of land in the area was Rs17,000.
He said that the PHC had fixed the rate at Rs4,000 per Marla and WAPDA challenged the verdict in the apex court.
The court dismissed WAPDA’s appeal and ordered it to pay Rs4,000 per Marla price to citizen Waheed.
