KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended an order of the Sindh High Court regarding payment of dues to the affected people of the Fazaia Housing Scheme.

The overseas Pakistani, who had invested in the scheme, approached the apex court against the SHC judgement and sought proper compensation.

The three-judge bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab suspended the May 19 order of a divisional bench of the SHC and issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau and other respondents.

The lawyer for petitioners Haseeb Jamali submitted that the petitioners invested their money around five years ago and instead of principal amount, they must be properly compensated with the mark-up and interest.

In its May 19 order, the SHC had allowed the Pakistan Air Force and builders to settle all the liabilities of the Fazaia Housing Scheme and refund the money of the allottees within six months.

SHC seeks report about milk pricing

It had also directed the NAB chairman to supervise and facilitate both sides to fulfil their agreements and ensure that all the affected people were repaid in full within the shortest period of time.

The two-judge bench of SHC had directed the jail authorities to release both the confined builders so that they may fulfil their obligations, but directed the ministry of interior to place their names on the ECL.

NAB had arrested builders Tanveer Ahmed and Bilal Tanveer of M/s Maxim Properties in January for allegedly depriving the public of around Rs13 billion through investments in the scheme.

M/s Maxim had entered into a joint venture agreement with the PAF in 2015 to create the Fazaia Housing Scheme and people were given opportunity to apply for plots. A large number of people paid substantial amounts in respect of such plots.

Milk price

The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the local administration to come up with a progress report regarding the wholesale price of milk to retailers and action so far taken if the milk is being sold over the notified price.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar also asked a representative of commissioner Karachi to file a report till Aug 25 mentioning whether all the stakeholders have been taken on board to resolve the issue of milk price and if any meeting has been convened for this purpose.

A milk seller moved the SHC and contended that he was purchasing milk at Rs120 per litre and was unable to sell it at Rs94 per litre as notified by the commissioner office.

An assistant commissioner was present in the courtroom to represent the commissioner Karachi and she sought time to submit progress report.

The bench directed the assistant commissioner to look into this aspect and submit the progress report mentioning what is the wholesale price of milk and what action has been taken so far if the milk is not being sold at the notified price and whether all the stakeholders have been taken on board to resolve the issue and if any such meeting has taken place.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2020