KARACHI, Aug 31: The provincial government denied on Tuesday that it ever decided to set up an 'education city' in Gadap Town and the Sindh High Court adjourned the hearing of a representative suit moved by the institutions allotted land in the disputed project to September 9.

A counter-affidavit filed by Additional Advocate-General Abbas Ali on behalf of the government's land utilization department said the suit was liable to be dismissed as not maintainable as the plaintiffs had no cause of action.

The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), the Aga Khan University (AKU), Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) and several other institutions have approached the court to press for preservation of the education city's character. They said the provincial government had decided in 2001 to set up the project at Deh Chouhar, Gadap Town, along the road linking the national and super highways.

The plaintiffs submitted through Barrister Qazi Faez Isa that they were induced to buy plots in the project area because it was reserved for education and health sector institutions. The government could not renege on its commitment and cancel the allotments only because the real estate prices had gone up.

The plaintiffs complained that out of 300 acres leased out to SZABIST, Nestle, a multinational concern, had already been allotted 20 acres for a water bottling plant.

They said the allotment was made while a notice given to SZABIST to pay the lease price differential was yet to expire. The institute had in the meanwhile moved a writ petition and obtained a stay order.

Barrister Isa said in his arguments that the Nestle plant would impinge on the character of the education city project. The multinational was mainly concerned with the underground water in the area and would deprive other allottees of its normal beneficial use over a period of time.

No commercial concern could be given land in the area under the 2001 cabinet decision, he argued. He said AKU was allotted the land on promise of a hefty investment.

Among the principal allottees who have moved the court are AKU (about 600 acres), SZABIST (300 acres), SIUT (100 acres), Sindh Madressatul Islam (200 acres), Sir Syed University (200 acres), Ziauddin Hospital (25 acres), Shaukat Khanum Hospital (20 acres) and Newport Institute (20 acres).

In its counter-affidavit, the Sindh government denied having ever conceived an education city project in Gadap Town as claimed by the plaintiffs or having induced the allottees to buy plots in the area.

The land was allotted at a throwaway price of Rs 250,000 per acre against the prevailing rate of Rs 500,000. SZABIST was charged only Rs 15,000 per acre. It was given an opportunity to pay the price differential but it failed to make or even offer any payment.

The government said Nestle had paid Rs 500,000 per acre for the 20 acres allotted to it. The plaintiffs themselves violated the terms of the lease agreements. The land was lying unused and the allottees have yet to carry out groundwork.

The agreements were liable to be cancelled under Section 24 of the Colonization of Government Land Act, 1912. Allotments also stood cancelled under Ordinance III of 2001. The owner of a property could not be restrained from selling it at a bargain price.

The government was empowered to convert a residential plot into a commercial or industrial plot. Seven suits were pending in the high court seeking allotments in the area on payment of Rs 500,000 per acre. The decision to allot land to Nestle was taken by the Sindh cabinet, which was fully empowered to do so, it said.