KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday granted one week to Bahria Town, Karachi, to come up with a complete record showing charges being collected for allotment and transfer of property and whether the allotment charges are being contributed to the state exchequer.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, a three-member SC bench also directed Bahria Town, Karachi, to submit within 10 days a report on its water system to the SC-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh.

On Friday, the apex court had summoned Bahria Town, Karachi, on the complaint that the housing scheme in Malir collected transfer and allotment charges, but did not contribute the same to the state exchequer as it was obliged to do under the law.

Appearing on behalf of Bahria Town before the SC bench, a lawyer on Saturday contended that his client was paying taxes in accordance with a notification issued by the Federal Board of Revenue in 2016.

During the hearing, the chief justice said a scam of Rs3 billion was unearthed in housing societies in Punjab. He asked the defence counsel that the bench could pass an order for forensic audit of such transactions made in the accounts of Bahria Town, Karachi. However, the counsel sought time to produce the record.

The chief justice asked the lawyer to bring within seven days the record of the past two years, including the amount being charged for allotment and transfer of plots from one person to another as well as the taxes being contributed in the national kitty.

The chief justice also directed Bahria Town, Karachi, to file within 10 days a comprehensive report on the water system of the housing scheme, including number of tube wells and other sources of water, quantity of water being drawn as well as charges of water, to the water commission headed by former SC judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2018

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