The Supreme Court has urged the federal government to commit to ensuring that the armed services focus solely on defense rather than finance-related activities.
The guarantee was requested by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who led a three-judge panel in a case investigating the usage of military lands for commercial reasons.
Former Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed launched the case in 2021 after the court was alerted to the suspected illicit usage of cantonment board lands in Karachi, which were bought for strategic objectives but were later utilized for commercial benefit.
On Wednesday, CJP Isa expressed regret that the army had established marriage halls on military property and demanded assurance from Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan that the military would not participate in economic activities.
"Can you get this assurance?" the chief justice questioned Awan, adding that each institution should stay within its jurisdiction and carry out its stated objective.
The attorney general accepted that the concept required that everyone perform their own job.
At the hearing, the lawyer for the Evacuee's Trust Property Board (ETPB) informed the court that the building from which the issue arose belonged to the board since the individual who was given the property sold it on false documents, and a five-story structure was erected on it.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked if the ETPB was a bystander during the building construction.
The chief justice stated that it would not have been feasible without the assistance of the Sindh Building Control Authority.
The court ordered that the assets of the Karachi registry be audited by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).