THE legal strategy seems evident enough: an attempt to evade accountability by opening a new legal front. With the Supreme Court under its new chief justice reviewing the implementation of a 2019 ruling on land illegally allotted to Bahria Town Karachi, the latter has petitioned the court with a complaint that it was being treated ‘unfairly’ compared to other real estate developers. BTK’s finger pointed, in particular, to DHA City Karachi, which it says has been allowed to acquire much more land at a fraction of the price per acre BTK has to pay. BTK has argued that the ‘differential treatment’ has affected its fundamental rights and affected those who had acquired plots in its megaproject. However, BTK cannot rationalise its own misdoings with the ‘others did it too’ argument. Hopefully, the judiciary will not get distracted from holding BTK to account on the deal it struck in 2019.

The real estate giant had agreed to pay regular instalments against its total Rs460bn liability in return for exemption from prosecution by NAB. How much of this was paid remained shrouded in secrecy despite repeated attempts by journalists to acquire this information. However, yesterday in court, BTK’s counsel admitted that only Rs65bn of the total amount had been deposited with the court. Nevertheless, more information is needed on who made the payments and when. There is also the related question of the sum of £140m (out of £190m) that was routed by the PTI government to the Supreme Court against the real estate developer’s liabilities, even though this money had been confiscated from Malik Riaz by the UK authorities and was meant to be returned to the people of Pakistan. The Supreme Court must ensure transparency in its present and past dealings with BTK, and the public should be explained how and why Mr Riaz was apparently allowed to benefit from funds he had surrendered to avoid criminal prosecution in the UK. At the same time, it is important for the Supreme Court to take notice of the manipulative dealings of DHA City and other housing societies and hold them to account wherever it finds them to have deceived the Pakistani people. It is time to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by large real estate developers, who have acted for too long as if they are above the law.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2023