LAHORE: Punjab has dismantled two decades-old legal regimes in one stroke, with the Governor approving laws that repeal the 66-year-old Punjab Consolidation of Holdings Ordinance, 1960, and the 63-year-old Punjab Vegetable Market Lahore Ordinance, 1963.
The Governor gave assent to the Punjab Consolidation of Holdings (Repeal) Act, 2026, and the Punjab Vegetable Market Lahore Repeal Bill, 2026. Both laws took effect immediately.
The repeal ends the legal framework under which Punjab carried out the consolidation of agricultural land for more than six decades. With immediate effect, no new consolidation proceedings can be initiated under the 1960 law.
Consolidation of holdings — commonly known as chakbandi — is the process of merging a landowner’s scattered, fragmented plots into compact blocks, a problem that grows over generations as land is divided through inheritance. The process was meant to make farming more efficient, but consolidation schemes have often dragged on for years because of disputes over the value and location of land offered in exchange.
The new Act protects everything done under the old law. Actions already taken, as well as rights, privileges, obligations and liabilities acquired under the 1960 ordinance, will remain intact. Consolidation schemes already approved will not lapse, and a transitional mechanism has been laid down to settle pending matters.
A final deadline of 365 days has been fixed for implementing schemes that have already been approved. If a scheme is not completed within that period, the matter will be transferred to the Collector of the relevant district. The transfer of possession of land and the disposal of pending objections in such schemes will also be completed.
For unconfirmed schemes, the Act draws a line at 70 percent. Where work on 70 percent or more of the shares of entitlement (hisas-e-istehqaq) has been completed, a 180-day window has been given to finish the rest. Once the remaining shares are completed within 180 days, the confirmed scheme will be handed to the district Collector for implementation.
If such a scheme is not completed within 180 days, the consolidation proceedings will be deemed cancelled. Unconfirmed schemes in which less than 70 percent of the shares of entitlement have been completed will be terminated, and their records handed over to the district Collector.
After the old system ends, the relevant district Collector will implement incomplete schemes under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967.
The Board of Revenue has been authorised to issue instructions and guidelines to implement the new law, and may also set up an electronic or digital system to handle matters related to land consolidation. The move fits a broader push to digitise land records and transfers, an area where the province has faced recent difficulties, including a decision to suspend the green certificate for six months amid land transfer problems.
In a separate step, the Punjab Vegetable Market Lahore Repeal Act, 2026 — designated Act No. 56 of 2026 — has been formally notified in the gazette following the Governor’s assent. It formally repeals the Punjab Vegetable Market Lahore Ordinance, 1963, a special law dealing with Lahore’s vegetable market.
The Act states that the objectives of the 1963 ordinance have been achieved, which is the basis for its repeal.
The repeal Act does not introduce any new vegetable market law. Its sole purpose is to end the 1963 ordinance. It contains no provision on vegetable prices, new taxes, fees or the establishment of a new market.
A clear saving clause ensures that actions taken and decisions made under the 1963 ordinance remain legally protected and are not affected by the repeal, preventing legal uncertainty over past decisions.
Officials said removing the special law will eliminate unnecessary legal complexity surrounding Lahore’s vegetable market and pave the way for matters to be run under the existing system. Consumers, however, should not expect cheaper vegetables: the law announces no immediate cut in prices and contains no mechanism for direct financial relief. Daily official prices will continue to be set through the existing market committee mechanism, as reflected in the Lahore market rate list.
Taken together, the two repeals reflect the province’s effort to clear its statute book of special and outdated laws while protecting rights and decisions already made under them — though for farmers with pending consolidation cases, the new deadlines mean the clock is now ticking.
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