LAHORE: A proposal to use a large portion of land allotted to the Government College Women University (GCWU), Sialkot, for construction of courts, Police Lines and the Deputy Commissioner’s Office has sparked a backlash with the academics and civil society members citing a Supreme Court ruling that restricts use of educational land for non-educational purposes.
The issue came to light after Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, speaking at a ceremony in Sialkot, said the government had a plan to shift several District Complex offices to Aimanabad Road. For that purpose, he added, 140 acres of the women’s university’s 200 acres land would be taken after discussions.
Giving the logic for taking land from the university, the minister, who himself belongs to Sialkot, said the government could not afford purchasing additional land and described the move as a cost-saving measure.
He added that Aimanabad Road would become an administrative hub. However, the proposal has triggered strong reaction from the academics, civil society and university stakeholders, who argue that the land allocated for higher education — especially women’s education — cannot legally be used for any other purpose.
Receives backlash from academia, stakeholders who cite SC ruling against use of educational land for any other purpose
They refer to a Supreme Court’s order in Human Rights Case No. 974-P of 2009, a copy of which is circulating in connection with the current issue. In that case, the court had taken up the issue of government land belonging to an educational institution that had been proposed for use by some other government department.
In its order, dated May 27, 2009, a three-member bench, headed by then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had ruled that the land owned by an educational institution and vested in the Education Department could not be diverted for non-educational purposes. The court directed the education secretary to withdraw the no objection certificate (NOC) that had been issued for construction of a Rescue 1122 centre on the college land in Jhelum.
The order clearly stated that such property, meant for education and possible future expansion, could not be handed over to another department for construction or any other purpose. The court further ruled that no construction should take place on the educational property once it had been earmarked for academic use.
Educationists argue that this ruling establishes a legal principle directly relevant to the situation in Sialkot.
A senior official of the GCWU, Sialkot, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Higher Education Department of Punjab had acquired the 200-acre site in 2013 specifically for educational purposes and transferred it to the university for development of its Imam Bibi Campus.
“About Rs6bn have already been spent on the academic development. The land is enclosed with a boundary wall and razor wire, and further expansion projects are in the pipeline,” the official said, adding that the university anticipates major growth in enrollment, faculty and departments over the next decade.
According to the university supporters, even the full 200 acres may not be sufficient for future phases of expansion, including new academic departments and facilities.
In a letter addressed to the Sialkot DC, retired additional inspector general of police Mian Muhammad Asif urged the authorities to protect the university’s land.
He described the GCWU Sialkot as the only public sector women university in the Gujranwala Division, saying that reducing its land would harm long-term educational planning for women. He also cited the Supreme Court’s position that land acquired for a specific public purpose could not be used for another purpose, arguing that the Imam Bibi Campus land was legally reserved for higher education of women.
The Federation of Universities Pakistan Academic Staff Association (FUPASA), Punjab chapter, also issued a statement, condemning, what it termed, attempts to illegally occupy the university land.
FUPASA Punjab President Dr Muhammad Islam said the land had been lawfully transferred and was already under the university possession and development. He warned that any pressure on the university administration to declare the land surplus would be unlawful and a violation of university autonomy.
He urged the Punjab government and Higher Education Department to ensure legal protection of the land and cautioned that the teachers’ bodies could launch a protest movement if higher education assets were not safeguarded.
Punjab Higher Education Department Secretary Ghulam Fareed told Dawn that a proposal to obtain the land from the university for a district complex had been discussed but no final decision had been made yet.
Replying to a question about Supreme Court directions regarding the land reserved for educational institutions, he said it would be difficult to use university land for any purpose other than education and that the department would review the matter in the future.
Critics of the proposed project have also questioned the need to shift district offices from the existing Kutchery Complex, saying many buildings there are functional and recently constructed. They argued that alternative land could be identified elsewhere in Sialkot without affecting an educational institution.
So far, no formal notification regarding transfer of university land has been made public.
Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2026
