LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday turned down a request of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to dispose of a petition questioning alleged corruption in the Punjab University Employees Housing Scheme, commonly known as PU Town-III.

Justice Shahid Jamil Khan was hearing the petition filed by Khurram Shahzad, an assistant professor of the university.

LDA’s counsel Waseem Arif Bhaddar stated that an application seeking approval for the housing society in question had been withdrawn and the matter against respondents was pending before the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and the court. He said the prayer made in the petition was against the LDA where matter was not pending, therefore, the petition became infructuous.

However, the judge did not agree with the stance of the LDA’s counsel.

Justice Khan observed that question about the absence of the eligibility criteria for establishing a housing scheme was raised during the previous hearing.

He noted that the case in hand was an example of unregulated creation of a housing society using the name of an institution like Punjab University.

The judge observed that the question needed to be answered by the government and in particular, the secretary for housing, who had to ensure remedy to the persons who invested in the housing society merely because of the name of the university.

The judge said the Punjab government was already framing rules for proper regulation of the private societies to ensure that representation of the citizens investing in such schemes was protected by getting them registered under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1925.

The LDA’s counsel told the court that the eligibility criteria was very much part of the draft, which had been finalised. The petitioner told the court that the property in question had been alienated during the pendency of his petition.

At this, the judge said registration of cases would be ordered in this case and directed the LDA to take up the matter in the upcoming meetings.

The judge adjourned the hearing till Oct 27.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2023