ISLAMABAD: A two-member division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday enabled the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to proceed against senior bureaucrats and officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in connection with the auctioning of an expensive plot for the construction of a five star hotel, the Grand Hyatt.

After the court order, the FIA can now arrest several serving and former CDA officials including an ex-chairman for extending undue favours to a private builder for constructing a five star hotel and apartments adjacent to the Jinnah Convention Centre, Islamabad.

On July 29, 2016 the CDA cancelled the 99-year lease of the 13.45 acre plot which was handed over to a company by the name of BNP at an auction on March 9, 2005.

The FIA was investigating the matter till February 2016 when the IHC issued a stay order against the inquiry on a petition filed by BNP.

IHC’s Justice Athar Minallah on March 3 this year dismissed BNP’s petition against the lease cancellation. When the court resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, the division bench consisting of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb observed there was a need to vacate the stay order since the investigation agency could not complete the inquiry.

BNP’s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan requested the court to not lift the restraining order against the inquiry since the appeals in the matter were pending before the court. The bench replied that the inquiry could not be stopped for an indefinite period.

The bench subsequently vacated the stay order with directions to the investigation agency to not arrest the petitioners, BNP directors, till further order.

However, according to a CDA official, the court did not provide any relaxation for bureaucrats and officials of the civic agency who were involved in the auctioning of the said plot to BNP and those who approved the rescheduling of outstanding dues till 2026.

In the verdict issued on March 3, IHC Justice Minallah noted that “[CDA] officials have been bending over backwards by extending undue benefits to the petitioner/company in complete disregard of the mandatory regulations, thus causing loss to the exchequer on the one hand and enabling the petitioner/company to defraud and deceive members of the general public”.

FIA sources said the agency will register an FIR against several CDA officials including those bureaucrats who headed the civic agency in the past and those who extended undue favours to the builder at the time of leasing the plot and rescheduled the payment of instalments for several years.

The IHC order which endorsed the cancellation of the said plot to BNP has been challenged by over 80 affected buyers including the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The other affected buyers include governor State Bank of Pakistan Mohammad Ashraf Wathra, Pemra Chairman Absar Alam, former Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk, former Lahore High Court chief justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, Minister Jam Kamal Khan, former naval chief Mohammad Asif Sandila, former foreign secretary Salman Bashir, retired Lt Gen Ahsan Azhar Hayat, television celebrity Faryal Gauhar, former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ehsan Mani, former defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar, a son of the incumbent defence minister Khawaja Mohammad Asad, politician Kashmala Tariq, Saqib Birjees who is the son of federal minister Birjees Tahir, former CDA director general Sohail Durrani, anchorperson Nasim Zehra Ikhlag, former chief land commissioner Sajid Hotiana and Princess Shalalay Abbasi.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2017