Plot for Erra chief: Supreme Court tells all the parties to submit relevant record

The Supreme Court on Monday directed all the parties to submit relevant record regarding allotment of land in Diplomatic Enclave allegedly to Hamid Yar Hiraj, chairman Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) in violation of rules by second week of January.
A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to allotment of a plot in Diplomatic Enclave to Hamid Yar Hiraj in 2007. The court issued the direction when Advocate Naeem Bokhari, counsel for Ms Shabnam Asharf, who runs a school in Diplomatic Enclave informed the bench that he had challenged the allotment and the matter was pending before the Islamabad High Court.
Bokhari contended that the allotment was a classic example of cronyism as no procedure at all was followed in the transaction. Hiraj had even applied for the land after the passage of due date issued through an advertisement. The advertisement did not include mention of the land given to Mr Hiraj, he added.
Appearing on the court notice, Hamid Yar Hiraj stated that he had purchased the land after going through due process against Rs 75 million. Advocate Afnan Karim Kundi, counsel for Capital Development Authority (CDA) also requested the court to give him time for presenting record of the case.
The court had taken notice on report aired in the media stating that CDA has allotted Hamid Yar Hiraj 3 acres 2 kanals and 10 marlas plot for a School in the Diplomatic Enclave, Islamabad in violation of rules/procedure. According to the report, Master Plan of Islamabad has been altered without approval of the Cabinet due to which 37 kanals plot has been changed into 19 kanals plot. Thereafter, 19 kanals land worth billions of rupees has been allotted to Hamid Yar Hiraj at nominal cost of just Rs 71.632 million whereas 18 kanals land was given for school in the name of green belt, the report stated.
He could not construct the school within the prescribed time limit of 30 months. Besides, the advertisement given by the CDA was just for the owners of the private schools situated in Islamabad and owners of the private schools of other places were not eligible for it. The diplomatic enclave was not included in the advertisement, either.