May 19, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 02, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 18: The unchecked mushroom growth of housing societies in and around the capital, and the fraud associated with them, attracted the attention of the Supreme Court on Friday which ordered the proprietors of a private housing project to appear before it on May 28.

“Fake housing societies are looting the common man of his hard-earned money and action against other fake housing societies is also warranted,” observed Justice Javed Iqbal while taking suo motu action on a complaint by alleged victims of the Galaxy City Housing Society.

Justice Iqbal issued notice to its proprietors, namely Sheikh Raheel and Company, to appear and explain accusations of robing innocent people of their hard-earned money.

Dr Sheikh Sajeel is the general manager of the Galaxy City scheme, having office in S.F. Plaza, Adamjee Road, opposite Poonch House, Rawalpindi.

A court press release said the applicants had complained that the Galaxy City, in the vicinity of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, turned out to be a fake project as it neither held valid NOC nor registration.

But the owners had been refusing to refund their money for two years now.

They requested the Supreme Court to help them recover their money and to relieve them of their “agony at the hand of the unscrupulous elements of the society”.

Their predicament is indeed shared by thousands of victims of land mafia operators.

There are housing societies in Islamabad area which were registered with the

Capital Development Authority (CDA) years ago but do not possess the land they have already sold to their members.

Some of them launched in the 1980s did develop their land in the 1990s but have not allotted it to their members from whom they had amassed millions.

“In this land of uncertainties, insecure future and the land of disparities, everyone strives to secure their future by investing, amongst several others, in the mushroom growth of the housing society,” the applicants pleaded.

“In doing so, many fall prey to proprietors of hoax housing societies.

Brokers and proprietors of such societies hover around like vultures and grab the savings of the innocent middle class citizens,” they said.