Pakistan, July 22 -- The Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that final decisions rendered by competent authorities under the Land Reforms Regulation of 1972 cannot be reopened decades later through an administrative order. Declaring the Federal Land Commission Chairman's August 22, 1996 order-issued after a lapse of 24 years-illegal, the court clarified that land restored on the basis of legally finalized decisions cannot be taken back from its original owners.

A two-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan, accepted the civil appeals while setting aside the August 22, 1996 order of the Federal Land Commission Chairman, the Lahore High Court's ruling, and the...