Court declares Qaqlasht as Shamilat land

BOONI: A court here on Friday ruled that  Qaqlasht is a Shamilat land of the people of Booni and nearby areas.

The court added that only 12 chakorams of land at Sholiri, comprising the Qaqlasht playground, was state property.

The court ptonnounced the verbal ruling in a case filed by residents of Booni and other villages after the district administration tried to occupy it by declaring Qaqlasht as state property. The written and detailed verdict will be issued later.

The residents had maintained that Qaqlasht had been a common land of the people of Booni, Torkhow, Mulkhow, Junalikoch and the union council of Charun for centuries.

They said the 1975’s notification had also accepted Qaqlasht as shamilat, so that the nearby people could utilize it equally.

The court will explain its verdict in the written order after a few days, Javed Lal, who along with others had been pursuing the case, told ChitralToday.

He said the court ruling was a big victory for the people of not only Booni but whole Chitral where the government had tried to occupy private and shamilat land by illegally declaring them state land through the revenue department.