The Lahore Gymkhana Club, at the centre of a land lease inquiry by a Punjab Assembly committee. Photo: Dawn
A Punjab Assembly committee summoned senior provincial officers to appear in person on Wednesday, October 22, over the lease of more than 100 acres of prime government land to the Lahore Gymkhana Club at an annual rent of just Rs5,000.
Special Committee No 6, chaired by MPA Samiullah Khan, met in Lahore on Tuesday and demanded the original approval record, the file notings and the legal basis for a lease that has handed a vast tract of the state's land to an exclusive club while ordinary Pakistanis face bulldozers under anti-encroachment drives. The proceedings were first reported by Dawn.
How 100 acres went for Rs5,000 a year
The committee questioned how more than 100 acres of prime land in the provincial capital could be leased to the exclusive club at a nominal rent of Rs5,000 per year. It also expressed serious concern at the renewal of the lease for another 50 years in the year 2000, even though the earlier lease was still in force at the time.
Members were dissatisfied with the Board of Revenue's failure to explain clearly the basis on which the annual rent was fixed and the statutory authority under which the lease deed was executed in 1996. The committee directed the Colonies Wing of the Board of Revenue to submit the complete record, including summaries, file notings, official orders, valuation criteria and the executed deed.
According to 24 News HD, the panel specifically asked the Board of Revenue to explain how the Rs5,000 rent was fixed in 1996 and to produce the decision trail at the next meeting.
One law for the powerful, another for the poor
The comparison drawn by the committee cuts to the heart of a question every Pakistani asks: why is the state's hand heavy on the street vendor and light on the privileged? During anti-encroachment campaigns, shops are torn down and hawkers are evicted from public land without ceremony, while an exclusive body enjoys a vast tract of state land on exceptionally favourable terms, the members observed.
MPA Amjad Ali Javed described the arrangement as an example of elite capture and questioned whether the state had adequately protected its assets.
MPA Ahmad Iqbal Chaudhary called the club a colonial relic, arguing that privileges inconsistent with equitable governance and public benefit required review.
MPA Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain Chhachhar demanded accountability from the institutions and officials who allowed the arrangement to continue. He also asked whether permanent structures on the leased land had obtained government approvals, and why regulators had not applied the same scrutiny to the club as they apply to ordinary citizens.
Summons issued through the chief secretary
The committee issued a summons through the Punjab chief secretary requiring the Board of Revenue senior member to attend Wednesday's sitting in person with the complete lease record. The secretaries of law and parliamentary affairs and of the agriculture departments, the Lahore deputy commissioner, and the directors-general of excise and taxation and of the Lahore Development Authority have also been asked to appear with all relevant records.
Representatives of the club, including its management, have been summoned to the next meeting at 2pm on Wednesday to present their position and supporting documents.
Tax questions and the high court judgement
The committee also raised questions about tax compliance of restaurants and shops operating within the club. The relevant department informed the members that no previous audit had been conducted to verify compliance with applicable tax obligations, which deepened concern about regulatory oversight.
Members also referred to the Lahore High Court judgement in The Lahore Gymkhana v. Punjab Information Commission (PLD 2023 Lahore 278) while examining the arrangement.
The land in question is not the only such controversy. In Sindh, The Express Tribune reported that twenty-four people, including revenue officials and representatives of a cooperative society, were summoned as accused in a government land grabbing case. Across the border, a committee of the Indian Punjab legislature has itself been embroiled in disputes over stadium land, as The Tribune reported, a reminder that elite land grabs are a regional disease, though it falls to Pakistan's institutions to cure their own house.
Members declare no personal stake
The members said they are not members of the Lahore Gymkhana Club and would not seek membership in the future, stressing that the proceedings were driven by public interest rather than any personal benefit, conflict of interest or mala fide intention.
The committee also questioned whether such an extensive area of public land should continue to serve a restricted membership instead of being used in a manner that benefits the wider public.
What happens next?
When will the officers appear before the committee?
The Board of Revenue senior member and other senior officers, along with the club's management, have been summoned to appear before Special Committee No 6 at 2pm on Wednesday, October 22, with complete lease records and supporting documents.
Why is the Rs5,000 rent controversial?
More than 100 acres of prime government land in Lahore were leased at Rs5,000 per year, a sum the committee called nominal, and the lease was renewed in 1996 for a further 50 years beginning in 2000 while the previous lease had not yet expired.
The land of Pakistan belongs to its people, not to a closed circle of privilege. Wednesday's sitting will show whether the record survives scrutiny, and whether the era of colonial-era concessions is finally made to answer for itself.