The High Court has issued a temporary injunction halting the enforcement of an Addu City Hithadhoo Magistrate Court order to hand over a land plot to Asma Rasheed, the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MP for the Maafannu Central constituency.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Asma at the Hithadhoo Magistrate Court seeking to overturn the Addu City Council's decision to revoke her 3,000-square-foot plot, numbered 1014, which was originally allocated to her in 2008. Asma had contended that the council revoked her land plot without any valid justification and requested the court to order the council to return it.

In her initial filing, Asma also requested that if the original plot could not be recovered, the council should be ordered to pay fair compensation for the work already done on the property and provide an alternative land plot of equal size. The Hithadhoo Magistrate Court subsequently ruled in her favor, stating that official land registries clearly identified plot No. 1014 as belonging to Asma and therefore declared the Addu City Council’s revocation null and void.

Additionally, because the Addu City Council had refused to reimburse her for the development expenses incurred on the property, the Magistrate Court ordered the council to hand over plot No. 1014, located in block 336 of the Maamendhoo area in eastern Hithadhoo, within one month starting from December 22, 2025. The council was also ordered to officially register the land under Asma's name within that period.

The Addu City Council later appealed the verdict at the High Court and requested a stay of execution on the lower court's judgment until the appellate proceedings wrap up. The council argued that if the ruling were enforced prior to a High Court verdict, the entire purpose of the appeal would be defeated. They further noted that enforcing the judgment would complicate various other outstanding land matters and cause irreparable harm to the local government body.

In its decision yesterday, the High Court granted the stay order to safeguard the legal interests involved in the dispute. The appellate court ordered that no actions or measures are to be taken to enforce the Hithadhoo Magistrate Court's judgment until the High Court issues a final ruling on the appeal or instructs otherwise.