ISLAMABAD, May 3: Pakistan Navy (PN) has allegedly committed gross violation of municipal laws by selling state land on ownership basis to its officers in Sector F-11, documents obtained from Capital Development Authority (CDA) reveal.

According to the documents, the CDA allotted 85 kanals of precious land in the posh sector of the federal capital to the PN in 1995 on 33-year lease extendable for two terms of 33 years each.

“The land is leased for construction of houses/flats in sector F-11/1 at the cost of Rs77.39 million,” says the document.

The Naval Headquarters took physical possession of the land the same year and the PN laid infrastructure facilities at its own cost in 1997. Strangely, the lease agreement however was signed by the two parties in July 2003.

“Under the CDA’s laws Pakistan Navy could only allot the land to its officials on lease but not on proprietary rights,” a senior official of the CDA’s planning wing told Dawn.

“Except with the prior permission of the authority in writing, the PN shall not, until after execution and registration of the lease deed, transfer the rights of the plots by sale, sub-lease, mortgage, gift or otherwise, provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to a mortgage of such rights to any authorised loan-giving agency for the construction of the building with the prior approval of the authority,” the document says.

The PN wrote a letter to the CDA on January 23, 2009 and demanded one-time wavier in the Capital Development Authority laws and transfer of 85 kanals of land in the name of Directorate General Military Land and Cantonments (DGML&C) for 99 years.

The Capital Development Authority in its board meeting on April 18, 2009 granted the permission to the PN for the transfer of land to DGML&C but the authority did not allow naval authorities to further sell the land to its officials on ownership basis.

The CDA’s planning wing also issued a letter on June 11, 2011 criticising the PN for selling the land on ownership right.

“Naval authorities planned the residential plots on the land and constructed buildings on it without prior permission of the authority and plots have been allotted on ownership basis to their officers in violation of terms and conditions of the lease agreement,” the letter said.

It was also mentioned in the letter that the naval authorities occupied 11.76 acres (94 kanals) instead of the allotted area of 10.8 acres (85 kanals).

When contacted, the Pakistan Navy’s spokesman Commodore Irfanul Haq said he was not aware of the issue and could not comment on it as he was on a visit to Karachi.