Pakistan Ordnance Factories Compensation Appeals Fail
Pakistan Ordnance Factories compensation appeals filed against orders for enhanced payment and interest have been dismissed by the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench. The bench dismissed more than 100 appeals filed by the Pakistan Ordnance Factories against orders of an executing court concerning payment of enhanced compensation and interest to landowners whose properties were acquired for establishing a new factory site in Wah Cantonment.
The bench comprised Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa and Justice Ahsan Raza. It dismissed Execution First Appeal No. 05 of 2025 along with connected appeals arising from the same land acquisition proceedings. The dismissal leaves the executing court’s orders in place, so the dispute over payment now stands where the executing court left it, unless a further appeal is filed and admitted elsewhere.
Pakistan Ordnance Factories compensation: the land at stake
The dispute concerns the acquisition of 29,199 kanals and 18 marlas in the revenue estates of Burhan, Jallo and Islam Garh in tehsil Hassan Abdal, Attock district. The acquisition notification under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was published on July 1, 1990, while the final award was announced on August 18, 1992.
Of the acquired land, 548 kanals in Burhan belonged to the respondents, who challenged the compensation determined by the Land Acquisition Collector. That challenge travelled through the courts for years. The Supreme Court also dismissed the challenge on December 21, 2019, while a subsequent review petition was also rejected by the court on July 18, 2023. The present appeals, filed by the Pakistan Ordnance Factories rather than the landowners, concerned the executing court’s orders on enhanced compensation and interest, a later stage of the same long proceedings.
What the dismissal means
An executing court deals with putting a court’s decision into effect, including payment. When a party appeals against an executing court’s orders on enhanced compensation and interest, it is asking a higher court to interfere with how that payment stage was handled. By dismissing more than 100 connected appeals, the Lahore High Court bench declined to do so, and the executing court’s orders stand.
The timeline shows why the case matters beyond its parties. The land was notified for acquisition in 1990 and the award followed in 1992, yet questions over compensation were still being litigated in 2026, some 36 years after the notification. For landowners, that length of time is itself a burden: compensation fixed decades ago, even when enhanced with interest, arrives long after the land itself was taken. For acquiring bodies, the case shows that compensation disputes do not end with the award, and that enhanced compensation and interest can return to court at the execution stage.
What happens next
The judgment does not state a compensation figure in the account of the proceedings, and no figure should be assumed from the size of the land alone. What is clear is that the Pakistan Ordnance Factories’ challenge to the executing court’s orders has failed at the Lahore High Court, and the connected appeals from the same proceedings were dismissed together. Any further step would depend on whether a party seeks review or appeal through the proper forum, and on what that forum decides.
Land acquisition cases of this age are a reminder of the value of settling compensation fairly at the start. A collector’s award that is challenged, enhanced and then contested again at execution can keep a file open for a generation. The Dawn report gives the full account of the bench, the appeals and the acquisition history.
Related court coverage includes the LHC order on reports in the Imran sisters’ detention case, the IHC notices on the shisha cafe ban appeal, and the FCC ruling reserved on the super tax review.
Frequently asked questions
Which court dismissed the appeals?
The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, comprising Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa and Justice Ahsan Raza, dismissed the appeals.
How many appeals were dismissed?
More than 100 appeals filed by the Pakistan Ordnance Factories were dismissed, including Execution First Appeal No. 05 of 2025 and connected appeals.
What land was involved?
The acquisition covered 29,199 kanals and 18 marlas in Burhan, Jallo and Islam Garh in tehsil Hassan Abdal, Attock district, for a new factory site in Wah Cantonment.
When was the land acquired?
The acquisition notification under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was published on July 1, 1990, and the final award was announced on August 18, 1992.
What happened in the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court dismissed the landowners’ challenge on December 21, 2019, and a subsequent review petition was rejected on July 18, 2023.
