KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Wednesday ordered Pakistan Railways to retrieve its land illegally occupied under the name of residential societies.

This he ordered while hearing a case related to occupation over Pakistan Railways land. The land given to PR for operational purposes was being used for commercial purposes, the CJP remarked.

Thousands of houses including highrise buildings have been constructed on the Pakistan Railways land, he said to Secretary PR during today’s hearing.

A railway station was supposed to be built on the land located in the city’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal, but the land was occupied. “How this all happened, who is responsible,” asked CJP.

The railways’ employees also sold out the land allotted to them, the top said.

To, this the secretary railways admitted that all the construction including on Gilani Railway Station land is illegal and the destruction in the PR started after 2009.

The CJP directed the Pakistan Railways to recover the occupied land of the department.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court in a ruling in the encroachment case had said that not an inch of the railway land would be allowed to be sold or leased.

The Supreme Court in order restricted the sale, transfer and allotment of any of the Pakistan Railways lands.