On 11-02-2026, the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, appointed Barrister Ch. Imran Hassan Ali, ASC, as the amicus curiae (friend of the court) in a case pertaining to the Punjab Land Acquisition Rules.
The Petitioners are seeking return of their land that was acquired for the purposes of a railway line for the Mangla Dam project. They argue that the land is no more required for the project and should be returned to them.
This appointment is a great honour for Imran. All praise is for Allah alone!
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The Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court has upheld enhanced compensation awarded to landowners whose land was acquired for the 720 MW Karot Hydropower Project, while further increasing compulsory acquisition charges from 15% to 25%.
On 26-01-2026, a division bench comprising Justice Jawad Hassan and Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf decided three connected appeals arising from the acquisition of more than 3,437 kanals of land in Kahuta, Rawalpindi, for the project.
The landowners were represented by Barrister Imran Hassan Ali, who successfully defended the enhancement granted by the Referee Court and sought further relief on behalf of the affected owners.
The Court dismissed appeals filed by the Punjab government and Karot Power Company challenging the compensation rate of Rs500,000 per kanal awarded by the Referee Court, holding that the assessment was supported by the evidence on record.
While maintaining the compensation rate and 8% compound interest, the Court partly allowed the landowners’ appeal by ruling that, since the acquisition was for a company project, the owners were entitled to 25% compulsory acquisition charges under Section 23(2) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, instead of the 15% awarded by the Referee Court.
The judgment reiterates that compensation in land acquisition cases must be determined by considering not only market value but also the potential value and surrounding circumstances of the acquired land.
In 2016, the Government of the Punjab initiated compulsory land acquisition proceedings on behalf of Lucky Cement (Pvt.) Ltd. for setting up of a cement plant and limestone quarry in village Buchal Kalan, District Chakwal. The project would have dispossessed a large number of villagers of their ancestral agricultural land. It would have stripped them of their identity, which is inextricable linked with their land. It would also have created unbearable environmental hazards for the population of surrounding villages. They would have been deprived of their right to life guaranteed by Article 9 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973. The villagers instructed Ch. Imran Hassan Ali, Advocate Supreme Court, to challenge the compulsory acquisition of their land through a Constitution Petition before the Honourable Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench. The Court accepted Imran’s arguments at preliminary hearing of the case and issued an injunction restraining the Respondents from dispossessing the villagers. The Respondents initially instructed Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, the then President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, to seek vacation of the injunction. However, the Court refused to vacate the injunction.
The case remained pending for almost 8 years and came up for final hearing on 13-11-2025, when the Honourable Mr. Justice Ch. Sultan Mahmood was pleased to allow the petition. Imran’s submissions highlighted procedural irregularities and misapplication of statutory provisions—deficiencies the Court found material enough to vitiate the impugned proceedings. The Court emphasised that executive authorities must act strictly within the bounds of law and cannot override vested rights through defective processes. Consequently, the Court quashed the notice for acquisition of the Petitioners’ land.
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On 15-02-2024, Ch. Imran Hassan Ali, ASC, successfully represented an appellant before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He had appealed from a judgment of a division bench of the Lahore High Court whereby the appellant’s intra-court appeal had been dismissed as not being maintainable. Originally, the appellant had challenged an order of the Punjab Board of Revenue refusing to return his land situated on main G.T. Road in Jhelum City that had been acquired by the Post War Reconstruction Fund (predecessor of the Fauji Foundation) to establish textile mills but which was no longer needed for the said purpose and was being auctioned by the government.
The Division Bench of the High Court was of the opinion that the appellant had a right of appeal under the Land Acquisition Act, 1984, as well as the remedy of review under S. 8 of the Board of Revenue Act, 1958, therefore, the intra-court appeal was not maintainable in view of S. 3 of the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1972. That judgment is reported at 2024 CLC 114 Lahore and can also be downloaded from the Lahore High Court website by clicking here.
Agreeing with Imran’s submissions, the Supreme Court took the opposite view and held that the said remedies of appeal and review were not applicable to the appellant’s case. Therefore, his intra-court appeal was maintainable before a Division Bench of the High Court. The Supreme Court remitted the case to the Division Bench for decision on merits. The title of the case is Rehm Dad v. Province of Punjab through its Chief Secretary, Lahore and others. The Judgment is reported at PLD 2024 SC 499 and 2024 SCP 93. It can also be downloaded from the Supreme Court website by clicking here.
Imran successfully represented some landowners in the High Court whose land had been illegally expropriated by the Punjab Government for construction of a so-called sports stadium in Chakwal. Instead of following the due process for acquisition of land, the government officials simply made certain mutation entries in land record without consent of the landowners. The landowners successfully challenged this illegal expropriation of their land before the Civil Court. Government’s appeal to the District Judge failed. The government challenged decisions of the lower courts in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, and then delayed the matter on various flimsy excuses for almost ten years. However, eventually, on 09-01-2023, the High Court dismissed the governent’s petition despite government’s plea to further adjourn the matter.
It is of great concern, however, that almost all of the original landowners died during this long drawn out legal battle. The case was being pursued by the second generation. If the government appeals to the Supreme Court, the matter might drag on for years still.