ISLAMABAD, Dec 7: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has declined the Islamabad High Court (IHC) administration’s request for the allotment of a plot to the IHC Chief Justice.

On October 4 this year, the IHC administration had sent a letter to CDA chairman Nadeem Hassan Asif for the allotment of a vacant plot in I-8/2 to the chief justice.

“It is worth mentioning that no residential arrangement has so far been made by the government and the Hon’ble Chief Justice is residing in a privately hired rest house,” the letter maintained.

On the other hand, CDA sources told Dawn that the authority declined the request because under the Islamabad Land Disposal Regulations (ILDR) 2005, the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) was the relevant forum for seeking the plot.

Barrister Masroor Shah, a former CDA legal advisor, said under the land disposal regulations, CDA could dispose residential plots through open auction.

He added that under the act, CDA could also allot five per cent of the residential plots in a sector to its employees only through open balloting when a new sector was announced.

“In the past, the CDA chairman was empowered to allot plots to individuals and later, the plots were directly allotted under discretionary quota,” he said.

“However, the discretion quota of the prime minister for the allotment of plots has also been abolished and now, there is no provision in CDA rules for the allotment of plots directly to any individual,” Mr Shah said

CDA Member Estate Shaista Sohail, when approached for comments, said the authority had requested the IHC administration to follow the prescribed procedure if it wanted to acquire the plot for the IHC chief justice.

She said the federal government was responsible for the provision of official residence to the chief justice, and the IHC administration could also approach the FGEHF for the allotment.