Lahore Gymkhana Admits Rs5,000 Annual Rent Is Inadequate for 100 Acres of State Land
The Punjab Assembly’s Special Committee No. 6 has questioned longstanding government oversight failures after the leadership of Lahore Gymkhana Club acknowledged that the annual rent of Rs5,000 for more than 100 acres of prime state land in Lahore was inadequate.
Chairing the committee meeting, MPA Samiullah Khan and other members examined how such a nominal rent had continued for decades without effective scrutiny by the government departments responsible for protecting public assets.
Appearing before the committee alongside members of the club’s Management Committee, Chairman Salman Siddique acknowledged the concerns raised by lawmakers and expressed willingness to provide records and cooperate with the inquiry. He said he was surprised by the nominal rent, particularly in view of the extent of land occupied by the club and its improved financial position.
Siddique expressed the view that the club should be paying at least Rs10 million annually, citing its present financial circumstances and prevailing economic conditions in contrast with the financial constraints it faced during the 1990s.
Committee members said the chairman’s acknowledgment strengthened the need to determine why successive government authorities had allowed the concession to continue without adequate scrutiny. They stressed that public institutions responsible for safeguarding state land, enforcing lease conditions and ensuring accountability also had to answer for their oversight failures.
The Member Colonies of the Board of Revenue informed the committee that former Punjab chief minister Sardar Muhammad Arif Nakai had verbally instructed officials to fix the annual rent at Rs5,000 when the lease was extended. He also stated that proper valuation and applicable legal principles had not been followed in granting the concession.
Members questioned how a verbal instruction could have formed the basis of such a significant arrangement and sought the complete documentary record establishing the approval process and statutory authority for the 1996 lease deed.
The committee emphasised that the land belonged to the people of Punjab. Estimates presented to the meeting placed its value between Rs76 billion and Rs218 billion. Members questioned the government’s failure to secure an appropriate public return from an asset of such substantial value and rejected the suggestion that the club’s internal governance arrangements placed its affairs beyond government scrutiny.
They maintained that institutional autonomy could not override accountability for the occupation and use of state-owned land.
Siddique told the committee that the club complied with its taxation obligations and requirements governing its corporate establishment under the Companies Act, 2017. However, regarding approvals for built-up structures, he said he was struggling to locate the relevant records within the club.
Committee members sought verification of sanctioned building plans, government permissions and compliance with lease conditions. They also questioned who would be responsible for structural safety if the required approvals could not be established.
On the provision of records for audit by the Auditor General, Siddique said the matter was pending before the Supreme Court and that he was willing to comply with its decision. Tasneem Noorani, a member of the club’s Management Committee, also assured the committee of cooperation.
During the meeting, members discussed options for ensuring wider public benefit from the land, including opening the club’s cricket ground to the public and relocating the club to a site near the Ring Road. They also questioned the justification for spending public funds on an exclusive recreational institution occupying leased state land.
The committee directed the Lahore Development Authority, Parks and Horticulture Authority, Federal Board of Revenue and other relevant departments to submit detailed reports on matters falling within their respective jurisdictions.
A fact-finding committee under the Advocate General Punjab, comprising representatives of the Board of Revenue, Metropolitan Corporation Lahore, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Agriculture Department and Deputy Commissioner Lahore, was tasked with framing specific questions, obtaining and verifying relevant records, and submitting its report within 10 days.
Concluding the proceedings, the chair directed that legal questions arising from the inquiry be referred to the high-powered Law Reforms Committee under Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan for further joint deliberation.
He emphasised that the inquiry must establish the historical record, identify failures in public oversight and ensure that state land is used transparently, lawfully and accountably.
Advisor to the Speaker Usama Khawar Ghumman, Secretary Parliamentary Affairs Khalid Mehmood, and officials from the Board of Revenue, Lahore Development Authority, Services and General Administration Department, Finance Department and the Office of the Advocate General Punjab also attended the meeting.
