Law on Ownership of Shamilat Land Enforced in Rural Areas of West Pakistan

On 23 January 1959, the Governor of West Pakistan, Lieutenant General Muhammad Azam Khan, promulgated the Punjab Land Dispositions Saving of Shamilat Ordinance 1959. The ordinance formally defined the ownership of village common land, known as Shamilat, and established clear principles governing its transfer. This strengthened land record management and property transfer systems and laid the legal foundation for resolving long-standing land disputes in rural areas. The original and legally effective date of enforcement of this ordinance is 23 January 1959, the date on which it was promulgated by the Governor. It was subsequently published on 27 January 1959 in the West Pakistan Gazette (Extraordinary) on pages 455 to 456. The primary objective of the law was to determine the legal status of village common land, including grazing areas, pathways, water sources, and other land reserved for collective use. It clarified which categories of such land could be transferred into private ownership and under what conditions those transfers would be considered legally valid. The ordinance also provided legal protection to certain past transfers carried out in good faith under prevailing laws, while denying legitimacy to illegal or arbitrary occupations. In the decades that followed, this law became a foundational reference for land-related legislation, judicial rulings, and revenue reforms in Punjab and other regions. Even today, its principles are applied directly or indirectly in thousands of cases involving land transfers, ownership records, revenue documentation, and rural land disputes in Punjab. Higher courts have consistently recognised it as a living and effective law. As of 23 January 2026, sixty-seven years have passed since the enforcement of this ordinance, yet its legal and practical relevance remains fully intact. Although the word “Punjab” appears in the title of the ordinance, it was promulgated on 23 January 1959 by the Governor of West Pakistan under the One Unit system and applied to all rural areas of West Pakistan. Since most land and revenue laws of the period were based on the Punjab legal framework, the term Punjab was retained in the title. After the dissolution of the One Unit system, other provinces enacted their own laws, while this ordinance remained in force in Punjab and continues to be applied there at both administrative and judicial levels.