KARACHI: In a historic win for people of Pakistan, 800 acres of precious Karachi state land has been saved from the grip of land grabbers.
On 18 June 2026, the Honorable Sindh High Court dismissed petitions filed by the illegal land beneficiaries, declared their allotments void from the very start, and upheld the cancellations carried out on NAB’s initiative.
In one of Karachi’s biggest land scams. In the early 1990s, 800 acres of precious urban state land worth trillions of Rupees were grabbed through fake “evacuee” claims and forged papers, with the help of dishonest officials.
The land was quietly transferred into private hands and sold off for huge profit — even though parts of it carry the water installations that supply water to Karachi’s residents, and other parts were set aside for public parks.
Under the able guidance of Chairman NAB Lt General (R) Nazir Ahmed Butt and Deputy Chairman NAB Sohail Nasir, NAB took up the matter and in a joint and coordinated effort with Sindh Board of Revenue, had the fake entries/records cancelled, restoring the lands back to state.
In response, the illegal beneficiaries filed multiple petitions before the Sindh High Court, claiming they were never given a hearing and are bona-fide purchasers. The Court rejected every excuse, ruling that nothing built on an illegal base can stand.
The Court declared NAB’s action lawful and, not pressure, and told the buyers that if they were cheated they must pursue the sellers who handed them stolen land, not the State.
The verdict is a clear warning to land grabbers across the country: stolen state land will be taken back and returned to its rightful owner — the people of Pakistan.
“These are the city’s water lines and public parks — they belong to the people,” a NAB spokesman said. “Every inch of state land taken by fraud will be traced and returned, the days of grabbing are over.”
