Gul Ahmed Textile Mills accuses Railway police of occupying its storage area

The Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited administration alleged that armed personnel of railway police entered the cotton storage area of the mill on January 3 and occupied it illegally.

As per the press release, issued by the textile giant, railway police baton-charged the factory workers and fired shots in air to frighten them on January 3 at about 1:30am (night).

The administration said that dozens of factory workers were injured due to police action.

The Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited (GATM) requested the Sindh Governor and the Railway Minister to issue order for returning the storage area of the factory and resuming the production process and leaving the dispute to the court to give its verdict on it.

It said that the GATM had purchased the land, bearing Survey Number (48, 49, 50 and 51) in Deh Khanto, measuring 43 acres, obtained in year 2003 vide two conveyance deeds.

The previous owners’ request for demarcation of the aforesaid land was carried out by the Revenue authorities in the presence of all concerned parties including a representative of the Pakistan Railways, added the press release.

Following a series of litigation, the matter attained finality vide Judgment Dated 27-5-2002, passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a formal sale agreement dated 31-1-2003 was executed between the lawful owners and the GATM, it added.

Subsequently, the entire land comprising Survey No 48, 49, 50 and 51 Deh Khanto Bin Qasim Town was purchased by the GATM.

The press release said the GATM was in possession of all legal documents including a judgment given in suit No. 248 of 1994, passed by 1SCJ Karachi (East) on 9-8-1994; another judgment of CA No 7 of 1996, passed by 5th ADJ Karachi (East) dated 24-2-1998; another judgment in Civil Revision 232 of 1998, passed by the Sindh High Court on 25-5-2001; yet another judgment of CPLA 2196 of 2001, passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 27-5-2002; demarcation letter issued on 12-12-2002 and two registered conveyance deeds between previous owners and the GATM.

The release said that the SC Judgment attained the finality between the previous owners and the Pakistan Railways, which had never been rebutted in the past 18 years.

The mill claimed that prior to entering its premises, no notice or intimation was given by the Pakistan Railway Police.

However, on Sunday, a holiday, around 30 to 40 armed personnel of the Railway police unlawfully trespassed onto its premises after midnight and created a hostile environment.

Furthermore, it said that the factory was not creating any hurdle on the Pakistan Railways track, which was at a fair distance from the boundary wall.

However, Pakistan Railways was not only forcibly trying to occupy the factory land but it also unlawfully stopped the movement of its raw materials to the rest of units.

The move had severely impacted the factory operations, causing loss of revenue. The administration said the hindrances would lead to unemployment and ultimately factory closures and reputational damage to the GATM and Pakistan.

It said that a suit bearing No 23 of 2021 GATM versus Federation of Pakistan (through the Ministry of Railways) was filed in the Sindh High Court, which was fixed for hearing on January 8 of the current month.

The release said that during the proceeding a false statement was submitted by the Pakistan Railways that they had taken possession on Jan 3, 2021.

However, the claim was disputed by GATM. It is on record at the court. The case was set for hearing on Jan 11. But the Railway Police once again forcibly trespassed on the factory premises on Jan 8, 2021, threatening the security with guns.

All that was done to make its false statement true before the court, added the GATM statement.