ISLAMABAD: The fate of the alleged fraud cases related to the built-up property (BuP) at C-15, which were pointed out a couple of years ago by the CDA land directorate, is yet to be decided as the civic agency is waiting for a decision on its appeal.

Under the rules, the CDA allots plots to people whose land it acquires for development of a sector. It also pays compensation to the owners of built-up property (BuP) on the land.

In 2019, the land directorate detected inclusion of over 200 plots in the list of BuP claims fraudulently.

Sources said when the matter was brought into the notice of CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed, he ordered the law wing to challenge the decision of the deputy commissioner CDA before the court of the DC Islamabad.

‘Fraudulent’ inclusion of over 200 plots in list of BuP claims for C-15 was detected in 2019

Director Land Shafi Marwat said before taking any action on review cases, the CDA was waiting for the verdict on its appeal.

“On Feb 11, the case will be heard by DC Islamabad Hamza Shafqaat. In the light of his decision, we will move forward,” he said and added that some old cases had also been remanded back to CDA which were now being examined by the DC CDA.

The sources said the scam surfaced in Feb 2019 when the then director land Malik Touqeer Nawaz objected to the BUP review cases and called them non-maintainable under the law.

He also issued show-cause notices to two officials of the CDA, who were accused of making statements in favour of a number of people in the court of the DC CDA to help them get their names added to the list of award.

The BuP award for the sector was announced in 2016 with a total of 504 people declared eligible for the award. Of them, 167 were placed on list ‘A’, after they provided all the requisite information while 337 were placed on list ‘B’.

It was decided that the claimants in list ‘B’ would also be placed in list ‘A’ if they provided the requisite information.

The sources said the two officials had submitted certificates that no house or structure was left unmeasured at the site. But during the review of cases, the DC CDA court manly on the basis of statements of the two officials added more than 200 cases making them eligible for the BUP claims.

The director land had issued explanation letters to both the officials who had given statements against CDA’s interest. Later, the CDA challenged the cases before the DC Islamabad, who is competent to hear appeals against decisions made by the DC CDA.

The sources said a small size plot in C-15 was worth around Rs5 million and the over 200 plots were roughly worth over Rs1 billion.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2021