The Supreme Court Wednesday questioned capital Development Authority (CDA) how the land was allotted to a private housing society, which was neither a land developer nor enlisted with the civic body as a land developing firm. A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and Justice Ghulam Rabbani was hearing a suo motu case against allotment of 54 acre land worth billion of rupees in Sector E-11 by CDA to Multi Professional Housing Society in the garb of its development.
Akram Sheikh, who has been appointed amicus curiae, said there is no provision in CDA Ordinance, 1960 to authorise a private party to undertake sectoral development in the city. "This scam is far bigger than F-9 Park as the amount received by the CDA officers and the developers run not into billions but in trillions", he contended. The purpose of establishing CDA was to develop federal capital, he said, adding that the civic body had its staff and can also take help from police and even rangers to eject the encroachers from its land.
Sheikh said that K U Farooqi, who is the sitting president of MPCHS, was serving as cabinet secretary when amendments were made in CDA rules and regulations that the development in capital areas will be made by the private sector. It is Farooqi who got that clause inserted in the regulation in July 1992, he said, adding that though the regulations are made by the Board of CDA, approved by the government. Clause 4 was inserted to accommodate the private party in the development of the area.
Zulfiqar Khalid Maluka, counsel for MPCHS informed the court that it took 10 months to develop sector E-11 and for that CDA issued appreciation letter to the firm. He said that they spent Rs 1.8 billion in developing the area as they had constructed culverts, electricity and water pipelines and got the land vacated from the land grabbers.
Chief Justice asked Maluka that MPCHS is welfare housing society and not developer, how it got into construction work. The Chief Justice said that for the development, MPCHs needed to have a licence that it did not obtain. Maluka explained that the joint venture agreement with CDA was concluded on December 12, 2008, which was supported and endorsed by three chairmen of the civic body. The hearing was adjourned till Thursday.
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