LAHORE: No potential bidder turned up to participate in auction of land measuring 41 kanal, 12 marla, 130 sq. ft, possessed and administered by Republic Motors (Private) Limited (RML) due to tenancy issues.
Federal Minister for Privatisation Muhammad Mian Soomro was himself present to witness the process, however, the auction had to be postponed as no one turned up to participate in bidding process as an interested party. The federal government had put the land for auction with reserve price of Rs 5 billion. To be eligible to take part in the auction, earnest money (@10% of reserve price in favour of the Privatisation Commission was to be submitted prior to the bidding by the participating bidder along with other required documents.
Talking to Business Recorder, Director General (DG) Privatisation Commission Iftikhar Naqvi said the commission had offered the land on 'as is where is' basis, therefore, the investors were of the view that how would they be able to vacate the land after taking it over against a huge sum of Rs 5 billion. He said majority of the occupants of the land have a rent contract with the RML which is operating under the ministry of industries.
Bidding documents suggest that the land is a joint property (Salam Khata) which is neither demarcated nor partitioned. The RML is in ownership of 65% share of the land and the remaining 35% share is owned by other private co-owners. The land has been under litigation at various forums between the RML and the private co-owners. A Civil Court, Lahore, had passed an order on 16.1.2019 wherein it was held that the RML is owner of 65% share of the property, and also directed the Privatisation Commission to proceed with sale of the total land, including shares of the RML and the private co-owners. The Privatisation Commission, in pursuance of the said order had advertised the property for sale.
The DG Privatisation Commission said since they had offered the land on 'as is and where is' basis, therefore, the commission was not bound to evict tenants from the land offered for privatisation. He said the ministry of industries had served eviction notices on the tenants but none of them had vacated the land till the date of privatisation. It is always up to the investors how to deal with tenants of a land offered for privatisation by the commission, he added.
The property has 98 feet front from the main Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, and 451 feet long front on main Lawrence Road side. The property is un-geometrical land. A ground plus two floors building with a basement are constructed at front facing 'The Mall', and remaining inside area of the property is comprised of different buildings - offices, sheds, printing press, workshops, parking area and houses etc.
He said the commission had tried its level best to attract investors but to no avail. Therefore, the issue would again be placed before the cabinet committee on privatisation (CCoP) for further line of action.
According to him, the commission had earmarked 26 properties in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, out of which 23 have been privatized in between 7th September to 28th September. Remaining three properties are located in Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Lahore, he added.
Naqvi said the Commission would be able to get a reasonable price of the RML if the ministry of industries gets the land vacated before auction. However, the tenancy issues have blocked the process so far and future of the land depends on the decision by the cabinet committee.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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