ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: Fallen from grace he might have, but former president Pervez Musharraf can still pull off a surprise. In an entirely unanticipated move, Mr Musharraf complied with a Supreme Court order recently, Dawn has learnt.

The Supreme Court had ordered the former president to demolish the excess illegal construction on his five-acre palatial farmhouse in Chak Shahzad. The order was issued during the suo moto hearing of a case of 499 farmhouses built in Chak Shahzad in violation of Islamabad's Master Plan.

With five huge bedrooms, several lobbies and a swimming pool, Mr Musharraf's farmhouse is estimated to be worth Rs250 million, informed a Capital Development Authority (CDA) official.

According to property experts, the built-up area was 12,500 sq. ft. of which 764 sq. ft. needed to be demolished. The CDA had also slapped a fine of Rs1.25 million for exceeding the permitted limit of covered area.

“The personal staff of the former president have submitted pictures of demolition of the farmhouse's excess construction with the civic agency besides saying that they were all open to obey the law,” a senior official of the CDA said requesting anonymity.

According to a copy of the letter made available to Dawn , the principal secretary of the former president has requested the CDA to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and has also welcomed the civic agency to conduct a survey if required in this respect.

In all it took five notices from the CDA to get a response from the former president's staff but CDA officials are pleased with the cooperation shown and say that it has given them hope that other farmhouse owners who have violated building laws will demolish illegally raised structures as well besides paying their fines.

A senior official said: “The fine has also been paid and we are satisfied. Now the rest of these 499 farmhouses have to obey the law since it's the order of the Supreme Court and even former President Musharraf obeyed it.”

He further detailed that once the Supreme Court order has been fully implemented, the civic agency will move to the next phase in another few months.

“These palatial farmhouses were leased for growing vegetables and fruit, and raising poultry for the citizens of Islamabad. We want to ensure that these leaseholders use the land for the purpose it was leased,” he added. “Otherwise, they will lose their ownership.”

Meanwhile, Barrister Saif, the spokesman for the former president, told Dawn : “The demolition of the excess area was done by the staff of the president. In all likelihood, the former president may have felt the need to have it demolished so gave the go-ahead.”

Barrister Saif elaborated that the “farmhouse is not that big” and that the “demolished area was hardly 20 feet where a shed was established for cattle.”

He clarified that the move to go ahead with the demolition was not a party decision. “It's a personal decision. But even then we as a political party will obey the law of the land,” he concluded.