ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) announced on Wednesday that it would register a criminal case against at least two formers heads of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and members of the CDA Board for giving undue favour to the owners of one of the capital’s high-rise residential apartment buildings.

Former CDA chairmen Kamran Lashari and Farkhand Iqbal may be implicated in the case, since they were named by CDA officials during the PAC meeting. However, it took some time to give details on who was a member of the CDA Board at the time.

During a discussion on the allotment of a plot to the private builder, BNP Group, adjacent to the Convention Centre, PAC chairman Syed Khursheed Shah said CDA had given unprecedented favour to the builder by handing over possession of the plot after receiving less than 10pc of the total amount.

In March 9, 2005, CDA auctioned a 13.5 acre plot on Constitution Avenue to the BNP Group for Rs4.88 billion. Mr Shah said the CDA Board handed over possession of the plot in 2005 after receiving just Rs400 million.

Officials have been accused of extending undue favours to owners of apartment building

The BNP Group has paid the CDA Rs1.02 billion to date, while the remaining Rs3.85 billion is recoverable until 2026 in instalments. The PAC chairman said the BNP Group has earned over Rs3 billion in profits from selling residential units, while the CDA has yet to receive half of the total receivable sum.

CDA Member Planning Wasim Khan said these decisions were taken with the board’s approval, to which Mr Shah angrily responded that there should not be parallel laws in the country.

Presenting a letter for the allotment of Park Enclave, Mr Shah said the CDA asked him to pay the outstanding figure before handing over possession of a plot, warning that he would otherwise have to pay a penalty or face cancellation of the plot. He said this law should apply to all.

When the member planning pointed out that the terms and conditions of the plot’s auction mentioned that possession of the plot would be handed over after the receipt of that amount, Mr Shah asked him to produce details of the terms and conditions of all the auctions the authority has made thus far.

He claimed that never in the history of the CDA has a plot been handed over to a party after the receipt of such a meagre sum.

He said there was “active connivance” between the then chairmen and the CDA Board to give the builders undue favour.

CDA official accused of extending undue favours

The CDA member planning shifted blame onto a deputy director general when the PAC discussed paras related to undue favours extended to the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and the owner of a plaza in G-9 Markaz.

The audit said the CDA allotted a plot in F-7 Markaz to the IPS in 1981, to former Jamat-i-Islami senator Prof Khurshid Ahmed.

According to the report, the plot was meant for a think-tank building but in January 2008, the CDA Board gave special permission for commercial activity in the building without charging a commercialisation fee. In August 2012, the plot was transferred to a private party, resulting in a loss of Rs462.2 million to the CDA.

The authority was also accused of giving a private builder unlawful approval to construct an additional storey in a plaza in G-9, resulting in a loss of Rs524 million to the CDA.

Mr Khan blamed deputy director general Ghulam Murtaza Malik for all wrongdoings when the PAC took up the paras. He also said the authority has already recommended Malik’s removal from service.

However, the CDA did not mention whether it imposed any penalties on the plot owners. The committee directed the CDA to take action against the official and submit a report on Thursday.

Naval officers’ land converted to housing society

The audit report also pointed out that a 10.6 acre plot in F-11/1 meant for official residences of naval officers has been converted into a housing society.

“CDA handed over possession of the plot to the Naval Headquarters on Aug 15, 1995. However, the authority did not monitor the use of land for construction of official residences and due to its leniency, Naval Headquarters converted the land into residential plots under Naval Housing Society,” the audit report said.

When this para was taken up, the audit director general Maqbool Gondal said the matter has been discussed with all the stakeholders in detail. He said the audit would take up the matter at the departmental account committee level, and suggested that the PAC settle this para.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016