ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday acquitted the accused persons in a corruption reference prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the construction of illegal storeys of Safa Gold Mall at F-7.

A division bench headed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ordered the acquittal of the mall owner and four officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) who were convicted by an accountability court in September last year.

The accountability judge had sentenced the mall owner, Rana Abdul Qayyum, to seven years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs1 billion, ex-deputy director general CDA Ghulam Murtaza Malik to five years in jail and deputy director Ammar Idrees to three years’ imprisonment.

The court declared three additional storeys of the mall illegal and directed the CDA to recover its rent from the owner as well.

Accountability court last year convicted five for raising illegal storeys

NAB took action after the CDA board in 2017 decided to cancel the plot allotted to Safa Gold Mall over the construction of the illegal storeys and other violations in the building plan.

The CDA had auctioned plot No 5 at Jinnah Super Market in 2010 where its health department was once located. But in a questionable move, the civic agency converted the health facility into a commercial plot.

According to the prosecution, in the allotment letter it was clearly defined that the floor-area ratio of the building would be 1:5 with 100pc coverage and the number of storeys was ground-plus four, thus capping the height of the building.

NAB accused Mr Qayyum of knowingly and with criminal intent in collusion with CDA officials gaining illegal favours and undue benefits which caused the government a loss of about Rs1.07 billion.

As per the court record, an office of the CDA Directorate of Health Services was established on the plot though it was not marked for any specific purpose in the CDA’s master plan.

A proposal was placed before the CDA board on May 12, 2009, by the deputy director general planning-II that said the plot had high commercial value and should be used to fetch revenue for the CDA, and the health services directorate could be shifted to G-7 or F-7/4.

The proposal was approved by the board along with bylaws for the commercial plot. Advertisements were then placed in the press inviting parties for pre-qualification and eight parties were pre-qualified to bid on the plot.

Mr Qayyum claimed that he was the highest bidder and had been allotted the plot. He constructed the building on the plot after approval from the CDA.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2022