ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Tuesday canceled the lease of the plot for One Constitution Avenue Project over default.

Last month, the CDA had issued a “lease termination notice” to the BNP Group, which owns One Constitution Avenue Project, after it failed to deposit a Rs3 billion installment in line with the directives of the Supreme Court.

CDA officials said the notice had been served for initiation of the termination of the lease in line with the SC order of 2019, after the developer did not comply with the court verdict.

The notice issued by the CDA’s director estate last month had stated that Supreme Court in January 2019 had ruled that if BNP Group defaulted in furnishing a guarantee or payment of any installment on its due date, the civic agency would have the right, after giving a 30-day notice, to terminate the lease.

Owner expresses ignorance over CDA decision and says review plea pending in SC

The letter had said that the group was advised “to remit an installment due for 2022, amounting to Rs2.91 billion on or before December 31, 2022”, but in spite of subsequent reminders the installment was not deposited.

Recently, the Public Accounts Committee had also directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the non-payment of Rs17 billion by the group after it expressed its inability to pay the outstanding installments.

Since the auction of the plot in 2005, the project has been mired in controversies. The CDA had auctioned the 13.5 acres for Rs4.8 billion, but without getting the full amount it handed over the possession of the plot to the company.

The project also remained on the radar of the Federal Investigation Agency and NAB. In 2017, the CDA cancelled the lease and sealed the building since the plot was meant for the construction of a hotel, but the developer had built and sold residential apartments instead.

The project was subsequently de-sealed in 2021 after almost five years following a 2019 judgement by a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by then chief justice Saqib Nisar.

In line with the SC verdict, the developer was supposed to deposit Rs17.5 billion in installments in eight years, but after paying the first installment he did not pay the second one which was due in December 31 last year. The CDA after issuing a termination notice cancelled the lease.

When contacted, developer of the project, Hafeez Pasha, said he had no knowledge of the lease cancellation. He said he and the CDA had filed review petitions in the Supreme Court against the verdict.

He said the outcome of the review petitions will be final for both the sides.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023