Humayun Khan
PESHAWAR: Chief Justice Peshawar High Court remarked that mining leases were granted on archeological sites due to lack coordination among Director Generals of Mining and Archeology departments which had created various problems unfortunately the departments awakened after court’s intervention, on Tuesday.
The green bench of the Peshawar High Court headed by Chief Justice Qaisar Rashid Khan and Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan heard nine writ petitions challenging the cancellation of mining leases in various parts of the province.
Representing the petitioners Muhammad Asif, Amjad Khan, Khalid Anwar Afridi Advocates, Barrister Babar Yousufzai, Syed Ilyas and Barrister Waqar Ali Khan argued that the petitioners were valid lease holders with mining leases granted to them by the Mineral Titles Committee. Now under the Peshawar High Court’s orders they were being prevented from carrying out mining activities and criminal cases and FIRs had also been registered against them.
Advocate Amjad Ali Khan argued that if the leased areas had subsequent to the grant of lease been found to be protected areas and heritage sites then compensation should be awarded to the petitioners for having invested huge amount of money in the sites and due to the leases being awarded and then cancelled due to no fault on their part.
Additional Advocate General Sikander Hayat Khan along with Deputy Commissioner Mardan, Barrister Asad-ul-Mulk on behalf of Mining department and Director Archaeology Department Dr. Abdul Samad appeared before court.
The Chief Justice reproached the Mining Department for doling out leases over relics and historical sites and summoned the DG Mines who explained that the cancellation of leases had been carried out in accordance with the High Court’s orders. Barrister Asad-ul-Mulk representing the Mining Department submitted that the fiasco was not a creation of the Mining Department alone.
He stated that firstly, the provincial legislature had committed oversight in failing to include a representative of the Archaeology Department in the Mineral Title Committee which could have identified and prevented the grant of leases over historical sites.
Secondly the declaration of antiquities published in the official gazette lacked coordinates of the historical sites. And thirdly, the Government had failed to constitute the Advisory Committee under section 3 read with section 70 of the Antiquities Act 2016 which would determine issues of compensation to be paid to the petitioners in the case.
Chief Justice observed that he would be issuing a detailed order sheet which would highlight the steps to be taken by the government including the constitution of the Advisory Committee so as to determine the issue of compensation to be paid to the petitioners, if any.
