LAHORE – A Lahore High Court (LHC) divi­sion bench on Monday suspend­ed asingle bench order that struck down a decision of the interim government tohand over 45,000 acres of land in three districts of Punjab to PakistanArmy on a 20-year lease.

The division bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, passed the orderswhile hearing an in­tra-court appeal, filed by the Pun­jab governmentagainst the single bench decision. The court also is­sued notices to therespondents on the appeal and sought a reply.

The interim government, through the appeal, had pleaded with the court toset aside the sin­gle bench order. The government submitted that theproject was ini­tiated by the previous elected gov­ernment and not by theinterim government. As per law, the inter­im government was empowered toimplement or finalise any pending decision and policy of the previousgovernment, it added. The govern­ment further contended that the court wasnot empowered to reg­ulate agricultural policies.

It submitted that the order of the single bench was not only in viola­tionof the law but also had contra­dictions in it.